Daughter of Penelope Orrick Allen, an early St. Louis society leader. A Bryn Mawr graduate, Christine taught at Mary Institute until her marriage to William Chadick Fordyce in 1902. As president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League, she petitioned the Missouri Legislature saying "Gentlemen, 50 years ago, my grandmother came before you asking for the enfranchisement of women; 25 years ago, my mother came to make the same request; tonight, I am asking for the ballot. Are you going to make it necessary for my daughter to appear in her turn?" Although they did not meet success until 1919, the women of Missouri made their voices heard, and as a result Missouri had some of the most liberal laws for women of any state in 1899. Sadly, Christine did not see her life's work come to fruition. She died in April 1919, just before the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constifution was ratified. For her memorable words and dedication to the cause of full suffrage, her name was posted on the Missouri League of Women Voters Honor Roll plaque in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1931. Christine was the author of "History of Woman Suffrage in Missouri," Missouri Historical Review, (Columbia: State Historical Society of Missouri, 1920), Vol. 14, which was published posthumously. (Some information for this biography was used with permission from the author of the book "Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales From Bellefontaine Cemetery" by Carol Ferring Shepley, published by the University of Missouri Press 2008.)
Daughter of Penelope Orrick Allen, an early St. Louis society leader. A Bryn Mawr graduate, Christine taught at Mary Institute until her marriage to William Chadick Fordyce in 1902. As president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League, she petitioned the Missouri Legislature saying "Gentlemen, 50 years ago, my grandmother came before you asking for the enfranchisement of women; 25 years ago, my mother came to make the same request; tonight, I am asking for the ballot. Are you going to make it necessary for my daughter to appear in her turn?" Although they did not meet success until 1919, the women of Missouri made their voices heard, and as a result Missouri had some of the most liberal laws for women of any state in 1899. Sadly, Christine did not see her life's work come to fruition. She died in April 1919, just before the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constifution was ratified. For her memorable words and dedication to the cause of full suffrage, her name was posted on the Missouri League of Women Voters Honor Roll plaque in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1931. Christine was the author of "History of Woman Suffrage in Missouri," Missouri Historical Review, (Columbia: State Historical Society of Missouri, 1920), Vol. 14, which was published posthumously. (Some information for this biography was used with permission from the author of the book "Movers and Shakers, Scalawags and Suffragettes: Tales From Bellefontaine Cemetery" by Carol Ferring Shepley, published by the University of Missouri Press 2008.)
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