[1][2] After marrying the newspaper editor Rossiter Johnson, in 1869 she began writing books, children's literature, and travel articles.

In 1897 Helen wrote what is often considered the best summary of the arguments against woman suffrage: Woman and the Republic, in which she argued that women didn't need the vote to establish more legal, economic and other equality and that women's role in the domestic sphere was essential for maintenance of the American republic.

She was openly critical of the writings of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her work The Woman's Bible linking it to radicalism and socialism.

[1] During her time as an anti-suffragette activist she addressed several legislative committee in Albany and Washington and wrote many newspaper articles and pamphlets on the subject.

In 1910 she founded the Guidon Club, an anti-suffragette organization dedicated to the study of politics and government.