Carrie Chapman Catt was challenging the status quo from the start.

She rejected the limitations society placed upon women, such as not being allowed to vote. "How is it possible," Catt (1859-1947) asked, "that a woman who is unfit to vote should be the mother of, and bring up, a man who is?"

Catt, born Carrie Lane, went to college when few women did. Once there, she did such things as become the first female student at Iowa State to deliver an orientation in front of the debating society. Catt, the only woman in the school's graduating class of 1880, finished at the top of her class.

She became a leading figure in the women's movement and helped found the League of Women Voters in 1920. That year, as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she helped secure passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

"All my heroes and heroines are pioneers," Catt said, as quoted in "Carrie Catt: Feminist Politician," by Robert Booth Fowler.

"(Catt's) pioneer was above all an idealist, someone 'big enough' and prepared 'to step out of the beaten path' to do 'a good thing.' Such idealism was essential to her existence. It was a matter of what a properly ethical life should be," Fowler wrote.

Time magazine featured Catt on its cover in 1926, and seven decades later — in 1992 — the Iowa Centennial Memorial Foundation named her one of the 10 most important women of the century.

After working her way through college, she became a teacher and principal. In 1883, she rose to superintendent of schools for Mason City, Iowa, one of the first women in the nation to hold such a post.

She married Leo Chapman in 1885. He was the editor and publisher of the Mason City (Iowa) Republican, but decided to seek employment in San Francisco. He died of typhoid fever in 1886, and Carrie Chapman was on her own. She became the city's first female newspaper reporter, then in 1887 returned to Iowa and became a professional writer in Charles City and lecturer for the Iowa Suffrage Association.

After marrying George Catt in 1890, she started speaking on behalf of NAWSA with his full personal and financial support.

"I have enlisted for life," she said of her commitment to the cause.

Over the years she made 185 speaking tours to garner support for women's suffrage. She didn't consider herself a great public speaker, but subscribed to Susan B. Anthony's belief that even a poorly delivered speech was better than none at all. Her No. 1 objective in any speech was to educate her audience.

Catt's passion and dedication brought her to the attention of NAWSA President Anthony, who chose her to address Congress in 1892 on a suffrage amendment proposal. When Anthony stepped down in 1900, Catt was her hand-picked successor.

"Both knew determination was as important as skill," Fowler wrote.

Catt served in her first stint as NAWSA president until 1904. She resigned to care for her ailing husband, who died in 1906. Having helped form the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1902, Catt spent the next several years traveling abroad and working to strengthen suffrage movements in other countries. She resumed leadership of NAWSA in 1915 after it became badly divided.

Catt's dynamic style helped NAWSA win congressional support and the backing of President Wilson. "For Catt, the essence of a leader was what the word implied, someone prepared to take charge and lead. She never felt any sympathy with undisciplined, drifting or easy-going leadership. She only admired forceful doers, activists infused with energy, eagerness and determination. . . . Catt over and over said leadership was in good part a matter of drive," Fowler wrote.

"No chance, no destiny, no fate can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great. All things give away before it soon," Catt said. She believed that "leaders are ordinary persons with extraordinary determination."

Catt stressed the need for a precise planning to win the support needed to prevail in the suffrage battle. She had NAWSA follow the model of political parties, working precinct to precinct to gain a state's support of the women's vote.

The movement, Fowler wrote, had an elitist reputation. Catt believed a coalition of all sectors of the population was what was needed to prevail. To win precinct support, Catt made sure she had professional organizers who were committed to the cause and could educate others as to the importance of it.

"Catt insisted that organizers be trained systematically. She had no confidence in what mere good intentions could do," Fowler wrote. "As one admirer put it, 'She sees large and she sees small. Her plans are of extraordinary scope, but they are worked out to the tiniest detail.' "

Catt was prolific in her correspondence. Her numerous letters explained NAWSA strategy and addressed issues. When writing to those who worked under her, she was generous with her praise.

"Catt knew full well that communication from a leader had to include much more than facts and orders; there were psychological as well as informational requirements to be met. Catt frequently expressed her gratitude for others' help, however, because she genuinely believed that she ought to," Fowler wrote.

Catt strove to be impersonal when it came to organization. She studied her people and placed them where their strengths could do the most good. She rarely clashed personally with anyone and refused to partake or accept the evils of gossip. She instead focused on substantive issues, and her people appreciated that. Catt encouraged differing opinions and sought them out.

After leaving NAWSA in 1920, Catt devoted herself to many causes, including the plight of Jewish refugees during World War II.

"She was among the first to inform United States political leaders of the truth about Hitler's cruel treatment of Jewish people in concentration camps and in the Warsaw ghetto, which brought death to so many," wrote Barbara Somervill in "Votes for Women! The Story of Carrie Chapman Catt."

Standing up for the needy was her way. "To the right that needs assistance," she said, "give yourselves."

BY MICHAEL MINK