Timeline of women's suffrage in Connecticut

Josephine Bennett with daughters Tanya and Katherine, c. 1914

This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Connecticut. Women's suffrage efforts began in the 1860s. Later, women earned the right to vote for school officials in 1893. Connecticut ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on September 14, 1920.

19th century

1860s

1866

• November: Hartford Courant publishes articles in favor of women's suffrage. ^[1]

1867

• Frances Ellen Burr introduces a women's suffrage bill in the Connecticut General Assembly which is narrowly defeated. ^[2]
• December: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton visit Hartford. ^[3]

1869

• October 29: Women's suffrage convention held in Hartford, Connecticut. ^[4]
• The Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) is formed. ^[5]

1870s

1870

• September: CWSA held its annual meeting in Hartford. ^[6]

1873

• December 15: John Hooker's opinion on the trial of Susan B. Anthony is published in the Hartford Courant . ^[7] Hooker wrote that "she had the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment." ^[7]

1874

• Anthony and Isabella Beecher Hooker speak at Cheney Hall in Manchester, Connecticut. ^[8]

1877

• Married women are able to legally control their own property. ^[9]

Connecticut Votes for Women Flag

1880s

1884

• State suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[10]
• A bill to allow women the right to vote in school district meetings loses in the state legislature. ^[11]

1885

• The Hartford Equal Rights League is founded. ^[12]
• The state legislature again defeats a school suffrage bill. ^[13]

1886

• A bill for full women's suffrage is defeated in the state legislature. ^[13]

1887

• Two women's suffrage bills in the state legislature are marked as "Ought not to pass" and go no further in committee. ^[13]

1889

• The Meriden Political Equality Club was formed. ^[11]

1890s

1893

• Women gain the right to vote for school officials. ^[14]
• Rose Payton is the first African American woman to register to vote in Hartford. ^[15]

1894

• The Equal Rights Club of Willimantic is formed. ^[11]

1895

• A presidential suffrage bill does not pass in the state legislature. ^[13]
• A bill for women's municipal suffrage passes in the state House, but fails in the state Senate. ^[13]

1897

• School suffrage law is amended, making voter registration more complicated. ^[16]
• Bills for presidential and municipal suffrage do not pass in the state legislature. ^[13]

1899

• A municipal suffrage bill does not pass again in the state legislature. ^[17]

20th century

Emily Pierson and Katharine Houghton Hepburn c. 1909-1910

1900s

1901

• The state suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[18]

1902

• During the revisions to the Constitution of Connecticut, suffragists presented equal suffrage resolutions which were not dismissed without debate. ^[19]
• The state suffrage convention is held in Collinsville, Connecticut. ^[20]
• Mary Seymour Howell campaigns in Connecticut on behalf of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). ^[19]

1903

• The state suffrage convention is held at the home of Isabella Beecher Hooker in Hartford. ^[20]

1905

• November: The state suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[20]

1906

• The state suffrage convention is held in Meriden, Connecticut. ^[20]

1907

• October: Suffragists hold their state convention in Hartford. ^[20]

1909

• The state suffrage convention is held in Meriden. ^[20]
• Women gain the right to vote on school and library issues. ^[14]
• October: Emmeline Pankhurst visits and speaks in Hartford. ^[21]
• The Hartford Political Equality League (later called the Hartford Equal Franchise League) is formed. ^[21]

1910s

1910

• The Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (CAOWS) is formed. ^[9]
• Fall: The state suffrage convention is held in Greenwich. ^[21]
• At the Greenwich annual farmer's picnic, suffragists from CWSA invited Ella Reeve Bloor to speak. ^[22]

1911

• Activists hold the state suffrage convention in Bridgeport. ^[23]
• August 1: Suffrage auto tour arrives in Watertown. ^[24]
• August 22: Suffrage auto tour arrives in Norfolk. ^[25]

1912

Votes for Women Trolley Campaign through Connecticut in 1912

• January 24: The CWSA trolley campaign kicks off. ^[26]
• January 25: The trolley campaign held a rally in Milford. ^[27]
• February 20: The Trolley Campaign has a reception in Southington. ^[28]
• February 28: The trolley campaign holds a suffrage meeting in Bristol. ^[29]
• March 28: Last event of the trolley campaign is held in Hartford. ^[30]
• Hartford suffrage groups send postcards to people in surrounding areas in order to advertise women's suffrage events. ^[31]
• The annual suffrage convention is held in New Haven, Connecticut. ^[23]
• The New Haven Political Equality Club is founded after the convention. ^[23]

1913

• July: The Wallingford Equal Franchise League raises money and awareness by selling food and giving away brochures at July 4th events. ^[22]
• The state suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[23]
• August 8: How the Vote Was Won, produced by The Connecticut Players opens and tours the state. ^[32]
• November: Pankhurst gives a speech in Hartford for CWSA called "Freedom or Death." ^{[33] [34]}

1914

• May 2: Thousands march in suffrage parade through Hartford. ^[35]
• Summer: CWSA holds a "rowboat platform" at beaches in Connecticut, sharing information about women's suffrage to beach-goers. ^[36]
• June: A car tour supporting women's suffrage started through Connecticut. ^[37]
• September: CWSA staff a booth at the Connecticut Fair Grounds, providing suffrage literature and outreach. ^[37]
• The annual suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[23]

1915

• October: State suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[38]

1916

• The Connecticut branch of the National Woman's Party (NWP) is formed. ^[39]
• A large parade with thousands of participants and spectators takes place in New Haven. ^[40]
• September 7: The Connecticut State Federation of Labor votes in favor of women's suffrage. ^[41]
• The state suffrage convention is held in New Haven. ^[42]

1917

• February: The Connecticut House judiciary committee hears testimony from both CWSA and from anti-suffragists on women voting in Connecticut. ^[43]
• November 7-8: Forty-eighth annual state suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^{[44] [45]}

1918

• The Connecticut Federation of Labor endorses the Nineteenth Amendment almost unanimously. ^[46]
• African American suffragists organize their own suffrage league in New Haven. ^[46]
• Spring: CWSA starts a political literacy and citizenship education campaign for women. ^[47]
• July 12: Suffragists form rallies in Hartford and Simsbury, Connecticut and decide to appeal directly to the President on the question of women's suffrage. ^[48]
• States suffrage convention is held in Hartford. ^[49]

1919

• The Actual Government of Connecticut, created by CWSA, is published by the National American Woman Suffrage Publishing Company. ^[50]
• January 8: Josephine Bennett, a member of the NWP, is arrested for burning Woodrow Wilson's speech in front of the White House. ^[51]
• January 18: The Connecticut League of Women Voters is founded in New Haven. ^[52]
• March 10: The Prison Special stops in Hartford. ^[4]
• The annual suffrage convention is held in Bridgeport. ^[49]

1920s

1920

• May 3-7: "Emergency Week" is declared in regards to blocking the vote on women's suffrage. The Suffrage Emergency Corps is assembled to support the federal amendment. ^[53]
• September 14: Connecticut state legislature ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment. ^[54]

1921

• January 18: The Connecticut League of Women Voters is formed. ^[54]

See also

• List of Connecticut suffragists
• Women's suffrage in Connecticut
• Women's suffrage in the United States
• Timeline of women's suffrage in the United States

References

1. Jenkins 2011, p. 136.
2. Campbell, Susan (2013). Tempest-tossed : the spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker. Internet Archive. Wesleyan University Press: Middletown, Connecticut. p. 92. ISBN   978-0-8195-7340-7.
3. Jenkins 2011, p. 140.
4. "Woman Suffrage". New York Daily Herald. 1869-10-30. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-10-07– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Connecticut and the 19th Amendment". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
6. "Woman Suffrage Convention". Hartford Courant. 1870-08-30. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-10-07– via Newspapers.com.
7. Cohn & Schulz 2021, p. 325.
8. "Historical Society to re-enact suffrage speeches". Journal Inquirer. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
9. Jenkins, Jessica D. (2016-06-02). "The Long Road to Women's Suffrage in Connecticut". Connecticut Explored. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
10. Anthony 1902, p. 535.
11. Anthony 1902, p. 536.
12. "Frances Ellen Burr". CT Women’s Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
13. Anthony 1902, p. 537.
14. Nichols 1983, p. 7.
15. "Women of Color Suffrage". Connecticut Historical Society. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
16. Nichols 1983, p. 9.
17. Anthony 1902, p. 538.
18. Harper 1922, p. 68.
19. Harper 1922, p. 68-69.
20. Harper 1922, p. 69.
21. Harper 1922, p. 70.
22. Marino 2013, p. 230.
23. Harper 1922, p. 71.
24. "Suffragettes on Auto Tour". The Day. 1911-08-01. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-11-30– via Newspapers.com.
25. "Suffragette Automobile Tour Will Stop Here Today". Hartford Courant. 1911-08-22. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-11-30– via Newspapers.com.
26. Bennewitz, Kathleen Motes (2020-07-15). "Trolley Campaigners Storm Small Towns and Votes for Women is the Battle Cry - Connecticut History". Connecticut History. Retrieved 2025-11-13.
27. "Rally at Milford in Votes for Women Trolley Campaign". The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer. 1912-01-26. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-11-24– via Newspapers.com.
28. "Southington Surrenders to Suffragists". The Meriden Weekly Republican. 1912-02-22. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-12-21– via Newspapers.com.
29. "Suffrage Talk Held in Bristol". The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer. 1911-12-21. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-11-24– via Newspapers.com.
30. "City Items". Record-Journal. 1912-03-28. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-11-24– via Newspapers.com.
31. Jenkins 2011, p. 137.
32. Bennewitz 2020a, p. 89.
33. Bennewitz 2020a, p. 72-73.
34. "VOTES FOR WOMEN". William G. Pomeroy Foundation. 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2025-07-24.
35. "Votes for Women Supporters March; Thousands Throng Streets to Watch". Hartford Courant. 1914-05-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-11-12– via Newspapers.com.
36. Marino 2013, p. 230-231.
37. Jenkins 2011, p. 141.
38. "Votes for Women Enthusiasts Here". Hartford Courant. 1915-10-20. p. 16. Retrieved 2022-11-12– via Newspapers.com.
39. Marino 2017, p. 50.
40. Jenkins 2011, p. 142.
41. "Convention Passes Votes Resolution Opposed by Women". Hartford Courant. 1916-09-08. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-11-12– via Newspapers.com.
42. Harper 1922, p. 72.
43. "Warm Hearing on Suffrage Bills Before Judiciary". Hartford Courant. 1917-02-28. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-12-23– via Newspapers.com.
44. "State Suffragists in Convention". Hartford Courant. 1917-11-08. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-12-23– via Newspapers.com.
45. Harper 1922, p. 73.
46. "Voices of the Marginalized". An Unfinished Revolution: The Woman's Suffrage Centennial. Greenwich Historical Society. 2020. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
47. Marino 2017, p. 54.
48. "Connecticut". Turning Point Suffragist Memorial. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
49. Harper 1922, p. 74.
50. Marino 2017, p. 60.
51. "Mrs. M. Toscan Bennett Burns President's Speech, Arrested in Washington". Hartford Courant. 1919-01-09. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-11-12– via Newspapers.com.
52. "History of the League". MyLO. 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
53. Harper 1922, p. 76.
54. "What happened in Connecticut with the 19th Amendment Ratification?". League of Women Voters. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2022-12-20.

Sources

• Anthony, Susan B. (1902). Anthony, Susan B.; Harper, Ida Husted (eds.). The History of Woman Suffrage. Vol. 4. Indianapolis: The Hollenbeck Press.
• Bennewitz, Kathleen Motes (Fall 2020a). "Alyse Gregory: Finding Her 'Voice' through Woman's Suffrage". Connecticut History Review. 59 (2): 72–108. doi:10.5406/connhistrevi.59.2.0072 – via EBSCOhost.
• Cohn, Henry S.; Schulz, Michael (August 2021). "John Hooker, Reporter of Judicial Decisions" . Connecticut Law Review. 53 (2): 295–334 – via EBSCOhost.
• Harper, Ida Husted (1922). The History of Woman Suffrage. New York: J.J. Little & Ives Company.
• Jenkins, Jessica D. (September 2011). "Marching Shoulder to Shoulder: New Life in the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Movement" . Connecticut History. 50 (2): 131–145. doi:10.2307/44370361. JSTOR   44370361 – via EBSCOhost.
• Marino, Kelly (2017-04-01). "Ballots, Bandages, and Books: Connecticut Suffragists, Citizenship Education, and Women's Activism in the World War I Era" . Connecticut History Review. 56 (1): 40–67. doi:10.5406/connhistrevi.56.1.0040. ISSN   0884-7177.
• Marino, Kelly (Fall 2013). "Making a Scene for Suffrage in Connecticut: Emily Pierson and Educational Theatrics, 1910-1917" . Connecticut History. 52 (2): 226–242. doi:10.2307/44370195. JSTOR   44370195 – via EBSCOhost.
• Nichols, Carole (1983). Votes and More for Women: Suffrage and After in Connecticut. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc. ISBN   0866561927 – via Internet Archive.