Ruth Bowman was born in May 1873 in Black River Falls, Wisconsin [Daily Capitol Journal (Pierre SD), May 26, 1962; “Ruth Bowman Hipple,” Find-a-grave.com]. She came to Dakota Territory in 1878 with her family, and her parents homesteaded near Ashton in Spink County in 1880. Her sister was fellow suffragist May Bowman Billinghurst. After taking a course in shorthand, Ruth was one of three women to work as a stenographer at the state capitol. She married John Elmer Hipple, then serving as state Auditor at the capitol, in 1896 in Ashton [Daily Capitol Journal (Pierre SD), May 26, 1962].
HISTORIC IMAGE: “Mrs. John E Hipple over looking Jim River where she fished as a girl, Ashton SD Spink County” (1960), by Miller Studio, South Dakota State Archives, #2016-05-06-303
Hipple was part of a group of women meeting in Fort Pierre that made a move to create a new political party and a newspaper for it in 1911–though they hadn’t decided on a name for the party at the time that planning was reported [Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), February 23, 1911; Lead Daily Call (SD), February 25, 1911].
For the state suffrage association she served as a district auditor in 1912 and 1913, attended the Mississippi Valley Suffrage Association convention with May Billinghurst and Cassie Hoyt in 1914, served on the state convention program committee in 1915, served on the legislative committee in 1917, and served as press/publicity chair for the SDUFL in 1916-1918 [Mitchell Capital (SD), August 1, 1912; Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), July 10, 1913, April 2, 1914; Vermillion Plain Talk (SD), October 12, 1916; Forest City Press (SD), November 24, 1915, December 20, 1916; Lead Daily Call (SD), November 2, 1916; Saturday News (Watertown SD), January 18, 1917; RD06882, correspondence 1914-1933, Breeden papers USD; Jones to Pyle, August 17, 1916, RD07467, correspondence 1910-1916; Hipple to Pyle, Feb. 14, 1918, RD07818, correspondence 1918-02-09 to 1918-02-18, Pyle Papers, USD; Ida Husted Harper, The History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 6 (NAWSA, 1922), 585 and 588].
Locally, she was active with the Pierre Political Equality Club and served as its secretary [Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), January 15, 1914; Schuler, Pierre since 1910, 219].
In 1913-1914, Hipple was pro-bono editor for the weekly newspaper, the South Dakota Messenger, for the S.D. Universal Franchise League [Madison Daily Leader (SD), November 3, 1914; Pierre Weekly Free Press (SD), November 5, 1914; “South Dakota Messenger,” Wikipedia].
In December 1913, Hipple wrote to NAWSA about the possibility of getting “Votes for Women” napkins that local clubs could buy–to raise state funds–and use at banquets and public luncheons.
Hipple to Agnes Ryan, December 1, 1913, Gen. Corr., 1839-1961, mss34132, box 28; reel 19, NAWSA Records, Library of Congress.
As press chair in 1916, she got in some legal trouble for a piece she wrote about anti-suffragist Charles McLean, which affiliated him with vice in Deadwood. She and the SDUFL confronted by McLean for libel and convinced to make a retraction that McLean published [Deutscher Herold (Sioux Falls SD), November 30, 1916; Catt to Pyle, December 2, 1918, RA12008 and RA12009, Box 4, Correspondence, 1918, December, Pyle Papers USD; The Woman Citizen 4(27) (January 24, 1920), 752].
Find Hipple featured on the “Campaigning in the Press” activity page at: Coloring and Activity Pages.
In December 1916, Hipple hosted a meeting for Beulah Amidon to speak on the work of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. The report of the meeting in The Suffragist (December 16, 1916), 9, described: “Mrs. John Hipple, one of the ardent young workers in the state campaign, entertained at a suffrage tea in honor of Miss Amidon. Mrs. Hipple’s lovely home, looking out toward the State House, was beautifully decorated with flowers and foliage. Between fifty and sixty women came to hear about the work for the federal amendment. Though the majority against suffrage was cut substantially in the last campaign, the workers fear that the Russian and Bohemian vote will make even a seventh campaign doubtful of success, and they were much interested in the other plan of work. Several ladies expressed a determination to come to the state conference, if possible; and many promised to do all in their power to make a state organization successful.”
Like many women at the entrance of the U.S. into World War I, she worked for the Red Cross, but after six months turned over her work preparing surgical dressings and re-entered active work for the suffrage campaign in February 1918 [Hipple to Pyle, Feb. 14, 1918, RD07818, correspondence 1918-02-09 to 1918-02-18, Pyle Papers, USD]. She was also on the executive committee for Pierre’s branch of the Red Cross [Hipple to Pyle, Letterhead of Pierre chapter of the American Red Cross, RD07872, correspondence 1918-02-09 to 1918-02-18, Pyle papers, USD].
“When this war is over and women have the vote, what in the world will we do with our spare time. It seems to me I shall have time to do a million things I want to do now and cannot.”
Hipple to Pyle, Feb. 14, 1918, RD07818, correspondence 1918-02-09 to 1918-02-18, Pyle Papers, USD.
Hipple was also an asset, living in Pierre, for her connections to state offices and politicians, such as when she was able to talk to Governor Peter Norbeck in February 1918 and get advance notice to Mamie Shields Pyle about the possibility of a special legislative session — the session that created Amendment E in March 1918 [Hipple to Pyle, February 18, 1918, RD07872, correspondence 1918-02-09 to 1918-02-18, and Pyle to Hipple, November 11, 1918, RA11787, Box 4, Correspondence, 1918, November 8-14, Pyle Papers USD].
“It is almost too much to have suffrage and the end of the war come on the same day. I feel more like crying than anything else. The cars are flying about town with flags waving and horns tooting and all the children are yelling their heads off. I have to go wipe my nose and eyes and thank God for it all every little while.”
Hipple to Pyle, November 7, 1918, RA11727, Box 4, Correspondence, 1918, November 1-7, Pyle Papers USD.
She provided material about the movement in South Dakota for the national history compiled by Ida Hustad Harper and sent statistics on the ballots to NAWSA’s Mary Sumner Boyd [Ida Husted Harper, The History of Woman Suffrage, vol .6 (NAWSA, 1922), 585; Mary Sumner Boyd to Hipple, January 18, 1917, RA07485, Box 1, Correspondence, 1917, Janurary- December, Pyle Papers, USD].
Hipple continued to serve as press chair for the South Dakota League of Women Voters under Mamie Shields Pyle, and was on the legislative committee in May 1923 [Argus-Leader (Sioux Falls, SD), September 17, 1919, May 14, 1923; Sisseton Weekly Standard (SD), March 11, 1921; Daily Deadwood Pioneer-Times (SD), January 6, 1923].
In 1919, she served as a proposalman and secretary for the state Republican convention [The Woman Citizen 4 (December 20, 1919), 608]. In 1920, she campaigned for Leonard Wood, who was then standing for the Republican nomination for president [The Citizen-Republican (Scotland SD), January 29, 1920;Madison Daily Leader (SD), March 10, 1920; The Herald-Advance (Milbank SD), March 12, 1920; Mellette County Pioneer (Wood SD), March 12, 1920].
Hipple also played and taught piano and organ, worked as a surgical assistant for Dr. D.W. Robinson, served on the library committee, worked for the Gas Belt Exposition, served by governor-appointment on the women’s board of charities and penal institutions, organized the Girl Scouts in Pierre, and participated in the Order of the Eastern Star. She was one of the incorporators of the Hipple Printing Co. in 1904, and was president for several years after her husband’s death in 1939. She was also an incorporator of the Hipple Supply Co. and managed a related stationary gift store. During World War II, she worked for the USO at the American Legion cabin [Daily Capitol Journal (Pierre SD), May 26, 1962].
HISTORIC IMAGE: “Capitol Journal and Hipple Printing, 415 South Pierre Street, Pierre SD, Hughes County” (1930), by Miller Studio, South Dakota State Archives, #2010-02-08-024.
Current view of the same location via Google Maps:
Her husband was editor of the Capital Journal and mayor of Pierre from 1923 to 1939 [SD Historical Collections 33 (1966), 179; “John Elmer Hipple,” Find-a-grave.com].
Ruth Hipple died on May 25, 1962 at home at 219 N. Highland Ave [Daily Capitol Journal (Pierre SD), May 26, 1962]. Their home, built in 1913, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 [#01000641, John E. and Ruth Hipple House, Pierre, South Dakota, National Register of Historic Places].
History in South Dakota 