Telegram from the Executive Board of the San Francisco District of the California Federation of Women's Clubs Supporting the Raker Bill
While most women's clubs who petitioned Congress argued against the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley, San Francisco residents stood largely in support of the dam. In their telegram to Congress, the Executive Board of the San Francisco District of the California Women's Clubs urged the Senate to vote for the Raker Bill, a bill to grant San Francisco the right to dam the Valley. Women activists in the Progressive Era often appealed to the special concerns of their gender. In this example, the Federation argued that women faced the water crises daily.
Telegram from the Executive Board of the San Francisco District of the California Federation of Women's Clubs Supporting the Raker Bill, December 2, 1913; Petitions and Related Documents That Were Presented, Read, or Tabled (SEN 63A-K8); Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; NAID 7268072