author
Gertrude Foster Brown
1867–1956
A gifted concert pianist who also became a force in the woman suffrage movement, she brought a teacher’s clarity to public life. Her best-known book, Your Vote and How to Use It, helped introduce newly enfranchised women to the practical work of citizenship.
1 Audiobook
Your vote and how to use it
by Gertrude Foster Brown
About the author
Born in Morrison, Illinois, in 1867, Gertrude Foster Brown built an early career in music. She studied at the New England Conservatory of Music, performed professionally in Europe, and taught piano and music before her public work in reform and advocacy became more widely known.
Brown is remembered today chiefly for the energy she brought to the campaign for women's voting rights. She served in leadership roles in the New York suffrage movement and later wrote Your Vote and How to Use It (1918), a clear, practical guide meant to help women take part in elections at a moment of major political change.
Her life joined art, education, and activism in a way that feels remarkably modern. Alongside her work in music and suffrage, she was also involved in women's wartime service efforts, and her papers and memoir preserve the story of a woman who moved confidently between the concert hall and the civic arena.