Women Take the Wheel

Alice and Gladys Vanderbilt riding in the back of an early automobile. (Photo Courtesy of the Newport Historical Society)

Nowadays, a woman behind the wheel is no sight to behold. However, flash back to Bellevue Avenue in 1905, Gladys Vanderbilt had the city’s eyes all facing her as she drove her white motorized Mercedes around Newport. Stories like Gladys’- of her barreling down the city road with her mother in the backseat perfectly confident in her daughter’s ability to drive - may seem to give off a notion of humorous youthful rebellion. Yet the truth is that this time period was controversial, and the participation of women in the world of cars was highly disputed. In the end of that era and especially now in retrospect, we can see that involvement in automobiles represented a complete shift in women’s liberation. This phenomenon of driving infiltrated changes into many realms of society, but we will tell the story of how gender norms and fashion underwent major reconstruction as women began to take the wheel. 

Misses Florence and Winifred Loew driving up to Bailey's Beach in Newport, RI. (Photo Courtesy of the Newport Historical Society)

When women began to drive cars in the late 19th century, men were suspicious of their ability to operate such vehicles, which is not surprising given the status of women in society at the time. Perhaps the most pivotal piece of legislation in changing these gender norms was women's suffrage. We often hear a run of the mill description on the fight for women’s rights that spanned several decades eventually landing women the right to vote. Oftentimes, the role of the automobile in it all is overlooked or forgotten. In the early 1900s, females were bound to a domestic nurturing role as caretaker of the household, and a life outside of that sphere was not only untraditional, it was rare. With this popular belief at the forefront of society on what gender roles should be, the automobile itself became a way for women to show American society that they would not be confined to one way of life. In 1916, two women by the names of Nell Richardson and Alice Burke drove a yellow Saxon automobile across the country from New York to San Francisco adorned with flowers and signs supporting the suffrage cause. This legendary journey in the automobile that became known as the Golden Flyer was to earn votes for suffragist delegates, but it also represented women beginning to break out of the stereotypical gender roles they once filled.

Alva Vanderbilt Belmont’s suffrage meeting at Marble House in Newport RI. (Photo Courtesy of the Rhode Island Historical Society)

Likewise in Newport, the fight for women’s rights was just getting started. Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, William Vanderbilt’s ex-wife, was heavily involved in the suffrage movement. After being snubbed by the upper class due to her divorce, which was frowned upon at the time, Alva had no issue with disrupting social class norms. Although Alva was not accepted by other suffragists at first due to her privilege, she set out on her own. She organized and funded a series of suffrage lectures at Marble House, her Newport home on Bellevue Avenue. Using her wealth and ostentatious Newport estate, Alva hosted massive fundraisers where thousands came to experience the opulence of Marble House. Even the women who previously dismissed her wanted an invitation to the events. Furthermore, she was the primary benefactor for the National Woman’s Party and repeatedly went against the status quo by including the rights of Black women who were often neglected by the movement. Alva’s fight to include Black women in the movement was met with headlines such as “Mrs. Belmont crosses line” written in the Iowa City Press and was overall unsuccessful for the time being as white women’s rights remained a priority over racial inclusion.

As the automobile began to catapult women into a geographical and emotional liberation, fashion began to shift as well. Suffragists who were crossing the country drumming up votes could not do so while wearing the typical dresses and corsets seen on women in the Victorian Era. Since many roads were dusty and unpaved, a person riding in an open top automobile would need to protect their hair, complexion, and clothing. Protection could be achieved through wearing a lightweight overcoat which was called a duster, and some even had protective hoods. It’s important to know that these garments were worn by socialites and suffragists alike. A few of these dusters, preserved from the early 20th century, are even on display right here at the Audrain Automobile Museum. For exposed skin, driving masks or goggles paired with gloves were commonplace accessories.

1930s Duesenberg advertisement targeted towards women

Coming from a time where female fashion was detailed and ornate, the transition into simple and more practical attire fit the lifestyle of the modern and mobile woman. Preceding the new look of slimmer silhouettes were robust skirts and dresses with immoderate trimming and length, which proved impractical while driving an automobile or being a passenger in one. With this new world of travel infiltrating daily life for more and more Americans, fashion had to adapt accordingly. By the 1920s and with suffrage rights newly granted, automobiles signaled the changing world that was - and remains today - women’s modernity, independence, and mobility.