Mrs. Almira Hollander Pitman's social diary, 1909-1910

Historical/Biographical Note

Historical/Biographical Note

Almira Pitman, nee Hollander, was born in Massachusetts in 1854. Her parents, Jacob Louis and Maria Theresa Hollander, were the founders of the successful women's clothing retailer L. P. Hollander & Co. In 1875, she married wealthy businessman Benjamin F. K. Pitman. Following her marriage she was commonly known as Mrs. Benjamin F. K. Pitman or Mrs. Benjamin F. Pitman, as well as Almira Hollander Pitman and Mira H. Pitman. The couple had two sons named Benjamin and Theodore Pitman.

Throughout her life, Pitman was active in the local suffrage movement. She joined the New England Woman Suffrage Association (NEWSA) in 1884 and was elected as the recording secretary for the Brookline Equal Suffrage Association in 1904. In 1913, she became Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA), a position she retained this position until 1919. Pitman also published several works on the topic of women's rights throughout her life, such as the 1912 poem "In Freedom's Land."

Pitman is particularly well-known for her suffrage work in Hawaii. Her husband was the child of High Chiefess Kino'oleoliliha, and they traveled there in 1917 to visit his extended family. She became engaged in the local suffrage movement and held meetings with local suffragists and members of the territorial legislature on the topic. Upon returning to Boston, she, along with other suffragists, used her influence to speak at U.S. Congressional hearings discussing whether Hawaii should be allowed to legislate locally on suffrage. Pitman is largely credited with the passage of this bill.

Following the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, Pitman remained active in the suffrage movement and was often written about in "The Boston Globe" for hosting events at her Carlton Street home in Brookline, Massachusetts. She was involved in the Women's Republican Club of Massachusetts and organized numerous events for the organization. Pitman passed away in 1939 in Brookline, at the age of 85.