From: Nancy Silverrod <nsilverrod_at_sfpl.org>
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:17:36 -0700

X-EC0D2A8E-5CB7-4969-9C36-46D859D137BE-PartID: 70684705-0572-41C5-A820-6FB82CF89351

Interesting reference question below. Please let me know if this rings any b ells.

Thanks,

Nancy Silverrod, Librarian San Francisco Public Library 100 Larkin St. San Francisco, CA 94122-4733 nsilverrod_at_sfpl.org 415-557-4417

-- Our memories are card indexes consulted and then returned in disorder by aut horities whom we do not control. -Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-19 74) A closed mind is like a closed book: just a block of wood. -Chinese Proverb

From: bbmmh
 Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 11:05 AM To: Nancy Silverrod Subject: California suffrage jump rope rhyme

Dear Ms. Silverrod,

I've recently seen a description of the exhibition and programs you've plann ed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of California woman suffrage. As a r etired librarian in the Department of Rare Books & Special Collections at th e University of Rochester Library and an emeritus board member/ docent at th e Susan B. Anthony House, I wish I lived closer to San Francisco so I could view the exhibition and attend the programs.

Since you've put together such an impressive celebration of woman suffrage i n California, I'm hoping you may be able to answer a question related to Sus an B. Anthony and the 1896 suffrage campaign. The Anthony House owns the all igator bag that Anthony used on her many travels. One of our docents remembe rs reading a small booklet in the 1960's about California children's games o r rhymes. In the booklet the author wrote that the familiar sight of Anthony carrying her bag in San Francisco during the 1896 suffrage campaign inspire d an alteration in the traditional jump rope rhyme to:

Miss Lulu had a baby, she called him tiny Tim. She put him in the bathtub, so see if he could swim. He drank up all the water! He ate up all the soap! He tried to swallow the bathtub, but it wouldn't go down his throat!! Call for the doctor! Call for the nurse! Call for the lady with the alligator purse! "Mumps!" said the doctor. "Measles!" said the nurse. "Vote!!" said the lady with the alligator purse!!

Recently the House has created a purse that is designed to emulate Anthony's alligator bag (see http://susanbanthonyhouse.org/alligatorbag.php) and, sin ce we are telling the story of the jump rope rhyme as part of the sales prom otion, it would be good to document its accuracy if possible. I haven't been able to track down any bibliographical record for the booklet and I don't h ave access to historic San Francisco newspapers to research the story. I'm hoping, therefore, that you or one of the participants in your celebration m ight be able to shed some light on whether Susan B. Anthony and her alligato r bag inspired a jump rope rhyme during her sojourn in San Francisco in 1896 .

Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

Mary M. Huth Emeritus Board/docent Susan B. Anthony House Rochester, NY


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Received on Fri 30 Sep 2011 12:17:36 PM CDT