"Marino looks beyond the northeast’s famous Seven Sisters to reveal that female college students defined the suffrage movement by increasing its credibility, developing innovative tactics, and connecting women across class lines. Her new research on historically Black and co-ed schools across the United States positions women’s voting rights reformers as precursors to more well-known campus activists later in the 20th century. Marino’s marvelous book demonstrates that the suffrage movement not only affected women, but also transformed the development of social movements, higher education, and American political life."
— Allison K. Lange, author of Picturing Political Power: Images in the Women's Suffrage Movement

"Votes for College Women offers a grassroots view of the expansion of the women’s suffrage movement in the early twentieth century. Focusing on the emergence of the College Equal Suffrage League, Kelly Marino explores the crucial contributions of a new generation of college women to the expansion of support for the Nineteenth Amendment and the subsequent emergence of women as political players in American society."

"Marino convincingly challenges the argument that women collegians and graduates were indifferent to efforts to secure female suffrage. Rather, by looking across racial, regional, and generational differences, she demonstrates that the suffrage fight politicized female students, introducing keen political activism and civic participation to American campuses long before the antiwar and free speech movements."

"The US women’s suffrage movement is often portrayed as having been organized by middle-aged women and mothers in formal settings, but Marino argues that this portrayal neglects the significant role played by college women. She examines archives from the College Equal Suffrage League (CESL), an affiliate of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, to illustrate the outsize and dynamic role that young women played in the movement, and concludes that the CESL’s campaigns both invigorated the Nineteenth Amendment campaign at a crucial moment and helped lay the groundwork for later and more well-known college protests against gender inequality."

"Marino challenges the Northeast-centric view of suffrage history to show its regional diversity. This activism has not been previously appreciated, she argues, because so much of it took place at the grassroots level, was not widely reported in newspapers, and can only be found by deep dives into a variety of archival sources. One important contribution of Marino’s research is centering the experiences of African Americans in the larger story ... An even greater contribution is Marino’s sustained attention to the question of anti-suffragism in higher education."

"Marino’s book Votes for College Women should be celebrated for its contribution to scholarship. The women’s movement is often thought of as occurring solely through large national organizations like NAWSA and NWP. However, Marino seeks to correct this incomplete narrative by uncovering the grassroots efforts of college students and alumni to foster credibility and public support in the fight for equal suffrage. Votes for College Women is a must read for anyone who values equality and the lasting implications of the women’s suffrage campaign."

"Fills a gap by exploring the impact college women had on the changing status of the women's suffrage movement, from a movement that could scarcely be mentioned without controversy, to an accepted mainstream political campaign ... The detailed research is clear and accessible, offering a wealth of further resources through the extensive footnotes."

"Votes for College Women provides a necessary corrective to the narrative about suffrage history by countering false conceptions about the apathy of youth and asserting the primacy of college activists in the campaign for the vote. This emphasis on lesser-known young suffragists contrasts with the more common focus on the lives of prominent older suffragists, providing us with a more complex understanding of the process of social change."

"Marino compellingly adds another dimension to our understanding of the suffrage movement, showing that college women played a unique role."

"Votes for College Women is well-written, carefully researched, and comprehensive. And by presenting colorful stories to illustrate complex arguments, it is approachable for both students and general audiences interested in this important history."

"Marino effectively answers scholars who dismiss college women at the turn of the century as apolitical, and who represent the suffrage movement as one dominated by older women. It is an important correction."

"Marino compellingly adds another dimension to our understanding of the suffrage movement, showing that college women played a unique role. The photographs of suffragists protesting in front of the White House, wearing sashes with the name of their alma mater, and marching in parades in cap and gown all come to life in this important book."

"Provides a necessary corrective to the narrative about suffrage history by countering false conceptions about the apathy of youth and asserting the primacy of college activists in the campaign for the vote."

Kelly L. Marino is a Lecturer in the Department of History at Sacred Heart University and the Coordinator of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program.