The NVWT marker dedication took place on May 21, 2022, at Bala Farm in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The marker was for Jean Kane Foulke (1867-1962). She was widowed in 1901 and lived on her 67-acre dairy farm with her three children.
Starting in 1913, Foulke was a suffrage campaigner and served on the boards of the Women’s League for Good Government and the Equal Franchise Society of Pennsylvania.
(Image: Robyn Young)
During World War I, the Equal Franchise League assisted the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense in organizing the Women’s Land Army to mobilize efforts to increase food production. Foulke provided room, board and agricultural training at her home and farm for 15 women at a time who committed themselves to joining the Women’s Land Army.
(Speakers at dedication: (L-R) Ann Armstrong, East Bradford Historical Commission, Dawn Coughlan, Chester County DAR, Robyn Young, NCWHS Board Member and NVWT PA State Coordinator, and Susan Carty, LWV)
After the passage of the 19th Amendment, Foulke continued to live at the farm in the spring and summer and spent the rest of the year in Philadelphia. She was involved in the newly-formed League of Women Voters. After her 65th birthday, she joined the boards of the Chester County Library, the Chester County Art Association and the West Chester Civic Association.
Submitted by Robyn Young, Pennsylvania State Coordinator, NVWT, and Board Secretary, NCWHS