Lillian G. Kohlhamer, from her 1915 passport application
Born
Lillian Gonzales
November 13, 1870
Buffalo, New York
Died
November 26, 1929
Italy
Other names
Lillian Gottlieb Kohlhammer
Occupation(s)
Suffragist, peace activist
Lillian GonzalesKohlhamer (November 13, 1870 – November 26, 1929), also known as Lillian Gottlieb Kohlhamer, was an American suffragist and peace activist, based in Chicago. She was one of the American delegates to the International Congress of Women held in The Hague in 1915, and at the International Woman Suffrage Alliance conference in Geneva in 1920.
Early life
Lillian Gonzales was born in Buffalo, New York, eldest child of Frank Gonzales and Rosalie Davignon Gonzales.[1] Her father was from Cuba, and her mother was from Québec.
Kohlhamer was active as a suffragist[2][3] and pacifist in Illinois.[4] She was a member of the Bathing Beaches and Swimming Pools committee of the Chicago Woman's Club.[5] She also supported Chicago schools superintendent Ella Flagg Young.[6] In 1914 she withdrew from the Woman's Party of Cook County, citing "too much dissension in the organization".[7] She was a life member of the Art Institute of Chicago.[8]
Kohlhamer represented the Chicago Political Equality League, the Chicago Woman's Club, and the Illinois State Suffrage Association as a delegate to the International Congress of Women in 1915.[9][10] She was quoted on the execution of Edith Cavell in The New York Times, saying "It is barbarism. Those are wickedly extreme measures to take in this age of the world's history."[11]
In 1916 Kohlhamer was one of the Illinois suffragists at the national meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in Atlantic City.[12] She and Margaret Strand represented Illinois suffragists at the 1920 International Woman Suffrage Alliance meeting, held in Geneva.[13][14][15] During the early 1920s she did postwar relief work in Germany and Austria.[16]
Personal life
Lillian Gonzales married businessman Robert W. Kohlhamer in 1894.[17] He died in 1920. She died at her villa near Florence, Italy, in 1929, two weeks after her 59th birthday.[18]
References
^"Gonzales". Chicago Tribune. 1919-12-27. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-01-06 – via Newspapers.com.
^"200 Dance at Suffrage Ball". Chicago Examiner. March 7, 1916. p. 13. Retrieved January 5, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
^Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Congress (1st : 1915 : The Hague) (1915). Bericht-Rapport-Report. University of California Libraries. Amsterdam, International women's committee of permanent peace. p. 268 – via Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
