The True Woman

Edited by Charlotte Elizabeth McKay, a former Union nurse and missionary, the journal aimed to promote conservative values regarding women's roles and responsibilities in society.

Charlotte McKay, a Baltimore widow with significant experience as a wartime nurse and missionary, felt that the surge in women's activism post-1861 was being hijacked by a small, unrepresentative group aiming for political ambitions rather than genuine societal reform.

Edited by McKay and based in Baltimore, the monthly journal blended political commentary with lighter literary content, with its editors closely tracking ongoing national debates.

Supported by The True Woman, the society initiated a petition campaign that gathered approximately 5,000 signatures, presenting it as evidence of widespread opposition to suffrage among women.

[3] The periodical The True Woman seamlessly blended literary content with its political commentary, featuring essays, poems, short stories, and sketches that reflected its views on women's societal roles.

[3] In addition to its literary content, the magazine actively countered pro-suffrage publications by combining political commentary with articles that challenged the arguments of the women's rights movement.

[3] The True Woman questioned how women could feel "unrepresented" or even "enslaved" when they were at the heart of family life and had a significant role in shaping the men who represented them.

The petition urged Congress to distinguish between suffragists' demands and what they saw as the true desires of most women, who valued their roles in family life over political involvement.

The decision to stop the publication came at a time when the suffrage movement was waning in popularity, as evidenced by declining turnout at women's rights meetings in major cities like Washington and Boston.