Grace Wilbur Trout

(Library of Congress)

In 1910, the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association decided it was time to take the message to the people. Mrs. Grace Wilbur Trout, a member of the IESA board, was put in charge of an experimental automobile tour. She and three other women would visit 16 towns in seven counties in five days. 

In each town, the parade of cars would pull into a pre-arranged public spot where local contacts had arranged for an audience to be waiting. The four women would spend 15 minutes each, speaking about different aspects of suffrage, answering questions, and energizing the crowd. There were even two reporters from the Chicago Tribune following the women throughout the trip, allowing the womens' message to be spread even wider. 

By any measure, the trip was an overwhelming success. Every town they visited formed a suffrage club and secured the public promises of prominent men in the town to vote for suffrage candidates.