Women's rights issues in Ohio were put into the public eye in the early 1850s. Women inspired by the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention created newspapers and then set up their own conventions, including the 1850 Ohio Women's Rights Convention which was the first women's right's convention outside of New York and the first that was planned and run solely by women. These early efforts towards women's suffrage affected people in other states and helped energize the women's suffrage movement in Ohio. Women's rights groups formed throughout the state, with the Ohio Women's Rights Association (OWRA) founded in 1853. Other local women's suffrage groups are formed in the late 1860s. In 1894, women won the right to vote in school board elections in Ohio. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was headquartered for a time in Warren, Ohio. Two efforts to vote on a constitutional amendment, one in 1912 and the other 1914 were unsuccessful, but drew national attention to women's suffrage. In 1916, women in East Cleveland gained the right to vote in municipal elections. A year later, women in Lakewood, Ohio and Columbus were given the right to vote in municipal elections. Also in 1917, the Reynolds Bill, which would allow women to vote in the next presidential election was passed, and then quickly repealed by a voter referendum sponsored by special-interest groups. On June 16, 1919, Ohio became the fifth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
The first Ohio Women's Rights Convention took place in Salem, Ohio in April 1850.[3] President of the convention was Betsy Mix Cowles.[4] This convention, attended by around 500 people, was the first women's right's convention held outside of New York.[3] It was also the first convention completely organized and run by women.[5] Only women were allowed to speak or vote during the convention.[6] Women said of the men attending the convention, "They then learned for the first time in the world's history how it felt to sit in silence when questions in which they were interested were being discussed."[6] Women at this convention published Address to the Women of Ohio.[7] The effects of the convention were later felt as far west as Wyoming, where John Allen Campbell in 1869 signed the first bill granting equal women's suffrage in the United States.[5] Campbell had attended the Salem conference as a young man.[5]
At these conferences and at other women's rights meetings, Gage collected signatures to influence delegates to the 1850 Ohio Constitutional Convention to include women's suffrage.[1] Many people also submitted petitions to the convention to allow voting "regardless of color or sex."[11] Thousands of signatures were collected and the debates at the Constitutional Convention were so heated, that the exact words were not kept in the official records of the proceedings.[12] The delegates to the convention decided to only extend voting rights to white men and by a large majority voted against both women's suffrage and suffrage for African-American people.[13] Only delegates from the Western Reserve area of Ohio favored giving the vote to African-Americans in the state.[14]
On May 27, 1852, a third Women's Rights Convention was held in Massillon, Ohio.[1][15] The convention drew women from all over Ohio and from different social classes.[15] Attendees of the convention decided to create the Ohio Woman's Rights Association (OWRA).[1] OWRA met for the first time in Ravenna on May 25, 1853 with members from around the state.[1] The group extended membership to any interested person and the first president was Severance.[16] The group immediately began working on a petition to present to the Ohio Legislature requesting women's suffrage.[16] On April 1, 1854, Severance brought the petition to the Ohio Senate.[16]
Cleveland held the fourth National Women's Rights Convention on October 6, 1853.[17] Well-known suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Bloomer, Antoinette Brown, Lucretia Mott and Lucy Stone all came to participate in the convention that drew women from around the country.[17] At the convention, women discussed various women's rights.[18] One of the rights they outlined was "That women be exempted from taxation until their right of suffrage is practically acknowledged."[18] In 1855 on October 17 the sixth National Women's Rights Convention was held in Cincinnati.[18]
A national suffrage organization, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was established in Cleveland in 1869 on November 24 and 25 at a convention held at Case Hall.[19][20] AWSA was meant to be a "less radical" group compared to the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA).[20] Early on, Toledo and Dayton also created women's suffrage organizations. The Toledo Woman's Suffrage Association (TWSA) and the Dayton Woman's Suffrage Association were both formed around 1869.[21][22]
Some women in South Newbury, Ohio voted in elections between 1871 and 1876, though the women's votes were never counted.[19] In 1873, women brought a petition for women's suffrage to another Ohio constitutional convention.[23] The petitions had almost 8,000 signatures and represented thirty-three Ohio counties.[24] At the convention, delegates formed a women's suffrage committee to report on the issue and submitted an equal suffrage proposal to the convention.[25] The proposal was debated for two days and some delegates used "the Bible to prove that man's position was and should be superior to that of woman."[25] Others argued that women's suffrage would help women be better wives, mothers and Christians.[25] The proposal never came before the electors of the convention and failed by 4 votes.[25]
Invitation to 1898 National Woman Suffrage Conference in Cincinnati
After the creation of the WCTU, there was an influence on women's suffrage around the state. In Shelby, a small town with a disproportionate number of saloons, women became involved in political organizing over prohibition and creating alternative places for men to visit, such as reading rooms.[27] The Shelby Equal Franchise Association was also created as an offshoot of the WCTU.[27]
To counter the idea that women did not really want to vote, Louise Southworth in Cleveland became the national superintendent of enrollment.[28] Starting in 1888, she created a list of people in Ohio who endorsed women's suffrage.[28]
Women gained the right to vote in school board elections in 1894 but the right did not extend to allowing women to vote on bonds involving school infrastructure.[29][30] The National Woman Suffrage Conference was held in Cincinnati in April 1898.[31]
In 1899, Harriet Taylor Upton was elected president of OWSA.[21] Upton also served as the treasurer for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) from 1894 to 1910.[32] Starting in the Spring of 1900, Upton visited fifteen important Ohio towns and helped organize local suffrage efforts there.[33] By the end of 1900, she had doubled participation in organized suffrage efforts.[34]
In the Ohio House of Representatives, E. W. Doty introduced a bill for both women's suffrage on school board elections and to allow them to serve on these boards.[38] Doty's bill lost by seven votes and he brought it forward again in the House in 1893, where it lost by six votes.[38] In January 1894, Representative Gustavus A. Wood introduced another bill, that was again narrowly defeated.[38]Caroline McCullough Everhard, who helped form the Equal Rights Association of Massillon and Canton, was a wealthy woman who was taxed, but unable to vote.[4] In 1894, Everhard and Governor William McKinley worked together to lobby Ohio lawmakers on the issue of women voting in school board elections.[4] Everhard convinced Senator William T. Clark to bring up a school board suffrage bill in the Ohio Senate.[38] The Senate bill, which also would provide the right for women to run for the school board, passed on April 10 in the Senate and the House on April 24.[38]
In 1895, women voted for the first time in school board elections.[39] Everhard also worked to promote Elizabeth Folger in her successful run for the school board in Massillon, Ohio in 1895.[40] In Xenia, Ohio, Mary Moore and Eliza Carruthers also won positions on their local school boards.[39]
State amendments
1912 Ohio Woman Suffrage Association Headquarters in Cleveland
When California gave women the right to vote in 1911, many women in Ohio were equally encouraged in their work on women's suffrage.[41] In 1911, Elizabeth Hauser of Cleveland questioned each of the six candidates running for mayor on whether they supported women's suffrage and only one publicly did not.[36]Florence E. Allen traveled to 66 counties in Ohio in 1911 speaking to farmers' groups and unions about women's suffrage.[21]
Upton was heavily involved as a leader in the campaign to add women's suffrage to the Ohio Constitution during the 1912 constitutional convention.[21] There was a campaign to collect signatures for a referendum to change the words in the constitution from describing voters as "white male" to "every citizen."[19] Only issues relating to women's suffrage at the convention were limited in time by the committees.[42] Unlike other issues, like bond issues for roads which had a two-week discussion, only three minutes were allowed for debate on women's suffrage and only over the course of two days.[42] A proposal for a voter referendum created by the Committee on the Elective Franchise at the convention passed by a vote of 76 to 34.[43] Now the referendum would go out for a state-wide vote.[43]
Women in Dayton distributed around 20,000 leaflets and letters in support of women's suffrage leading up to the 1912 referendum election.[22] From Cleveland, Hauser brought petitions to the Ohio State Legislature and then started working as a lobbyist for suffrage there.[36] Suffragists in Cincinnati reached out to German-American voters, who were normally anti-suffrage.[44] OWSA organized a parade in support of women's suffrage in Columbus on August 27.[26] Ohio received national attention for the possibility of passing the amendment.[45]
Anti-suffragists were also campaigning against the amendment during this time.[32] A campaign using anonymous handbills tied the issue of women's suffrage to prohibition, making it unpopular.[32] OWSA offered a $100 reward for information about who was passing out these anti-suffrage handbills, but the authors were never discovered.[32]
The 1912 women's suffrage amendment failed with 88 counties opposing and 24 supporting.[22] Nearly 100,000 people voted against the measure.[43] The vote may not have passed for several reasons. There were worries that women's suffrage would lead to prohibition and anti-prohibitionist, Percy Andreae, claimed that the vote had become a "wet and dry issue" rather than one on suffrage.[46] Suffragists had also aligned themselves with Theodore Roosevelt who was running as a third-party candidate which was seen as a negative by the press.[46]
After the women's suffrage measure failed, women regrouped and reorganized. In Franklin County, women founded the Franklin County Women's Suffrage Association (FCWSA) which was an umbrella group that included the Woman's Taxpayers' League (WTL), the College Equal Suffrage League, the Columbus Equal Suffrage League, the First Voter's League, the Men's League for Equal Suffrage and the Sojourner Truth Women's Suffrage Association (STWSA).[47]
The new Ohio constitution now allowed voter referendums to be placed on the ballot for constitutional amendments.[48] The suffragists in Ohio decided to take advantage of this, putting a woman's suffrage issue before Ohio voters.[48] Between March and July 1914, activists were able to gather more than 130,000 signatures for a women's suffrage referendum.[48]
A broadside promoting the referendum on the Ohio ballot from the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association in 1914
OWSA also worked to lobby the major political parties in Ohio in 1914 in support of suffrage efforts.[49] By January 1914, both the Socialist and Progressive parties in Ohio said they would support women's suffrage.[50] The Republican party in Ohio also began to support suffrage in tentative ways, but never fully committed themselves that year.[51] On May 9, Mother's Day, preachers who were part of the Ministerial Association of Columbus gave sermons on how women's suffrage was a way for women to better exercise their duties as mothers.[52]Jews in Columbus, including those at the B'Nai Israel Synagogue were also supportive of women's suffrage.[53]Rosalie G. Jones and Elizabeth Freeman took out "The Little Yellow Wagon" in July 1912 from Cleveland and traveled to Medina, promoting the women's vote.[54] Leading up to the 1914 amendment vote, the Wright family, including Katharine Wright and Orville Wright helped campaign for women's suffrage.[22] Katharine organized a suffrage parade on October 24, 1914 in Dayton where Orville and her father, Bishop Milton Wright, also marched.[22] In Lima, Bessie Crayton organized an October suffrage parade that drew around 1,500 people, including a 96-year-old man who marched for women's suffrage.[55]
On the same ballot, the Anti-Saloon League introduced a referendum on prohibition.[48] The suffragists worried that the prohibition initiative would be negatively tied to their cause and women's suffrage would lose support.[47] The suffrage referendum failed.[56]
Targeted suffrage efforts
Many suffragists in Ohio began to focus on more narrow suffrage goals after the 1914 amendment defeat.[36]
In East Cleveland, women won the right to vote in municipal elections on June 6, 1916.[32][57] The victory in East Cleveland was the first women won for municipal voting east of the Mississippi.[57] With 936 for suffrage and 508 against, the success was written into the new city charter.[57][58] In 1917, women in Lakewood, Ohio and Columbus also won the right to vote in municipal elections.[32] The driving force behind suffrage efforts in Lakewood came from a group of 123 women who created a Political Study Club.[59] Attempts were made to pass municipal suffrage in Sandusky, Ohio, but the effort failed.[60]
James A. Reynolds, a state representative from Cuyahoga County introduced the so-called Reynolds Bill, in the Ohio Legislature.[61] It would allow women to vote in presidential elections.[61]Harriet Taylor Upton, acting as president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association (OWSA), along with Florence E. Allen, Grace Drake and Elizabeth Hauser all testified in January 1917 before the Ohio legislature on the subject of women voting in presidential elections.[62] Upton said that there were no good arguments against giving women the vote and pointed out that women had turned out in Ohio in good numbers for the elections they were eligible to vote in.[63] Governor James M. Cox was supportive of the bill.[64] The bill to allow women to vote in presidential elections passed in 1917.[19] The Reynolds Bill was signed into law in February.[60] The passage of the bill gave hope to suffragists in other states.[65]
Immediately after the bill passed, anti-suffragists vowed to start a referendum to repeal the actions of the Reynolds Bill.[66] Anti-suffragists were able to included a referendum on the ballot to repeal the Reynolds Bill.[19] This was despite allegations of fraud in connection to the signatures filed on the petitions.[67] The OWSA found that in four counties, Scioto, Trumbull, Mahoning and Cuyahoga, out of 9,964 names on the petition, 8,661 were fraudulent.[68] However, other counties were not examined and the referendum was allowed to stand.[68]The Woman Citizen pointed out that the petitions did not represent a grassroots movement and were instead the result of special interests against women's suffrage.[68] The referendum narrowly passed, removing the right of women to vote in presidential elections.[19]
Ratification
Women practice voting in Dayton, Ohio Oct. 27, 1920
Dayton was fairly inclusive in its suffrage activities.[22] In Cincinnati, suffragists like Dr. Louise Southgate promoted the inclusion of African-American women in the suffrage movement.[72] In Franklin County, the larger umbrella group for women's suffrage, the Franklin County Women's Suffrage Association (FCWSA), was formed in 1912 and worked with the Black women's group, the Sojourner Truth Women's Suffrage Association (STWSA).[47] The Ministerial Association of Colored Preachers in Cincinnati was also supportive of women's suffrage.[73]
When an equal rights bill was defeated by the Republican-majority legislature in Ohio in 1919, Black women demonstrated their displeasure.[74] They changed the name of the Colored Women's Republican Club to the Colored Women's Independent Political League, signalling a "public repudiation" of the Republican Party.[74]
In Cleveland, a Men's Equal Suffrage League was established in 1911 to support women's suffrage.[19] The next year, in Columbus, an Ohio State University (OSU) professor, J. V. Denney, helped found a chapter of the league in February.[77] By 1912, there were men's leagues in Cincinnati, Salem, Springfield and Youngstown.[78]
Men's groups helped bridge communications between the women in the suffrage organizations and "formal politics," which was dominated by men.[77]
Companies involved with the liquor industry in Ohio were generally opposed to women voting.[36] Women's suffrage in Ohio was closely tied to the issue of prohibition.[79] There were certainly ties between many suffragists and temperance advocates in Ohio, even if suffragists attempted to maintain distance between their activism.[80] Suffragist leader, Harriet Taylor Upton, made this explicit during one campaign, saying "There will be no union of forces with the drys this fall to secure our equal rights amendment to the constitution."[80] Liquor interests continued to fight against women's suffrage, even resorting to fraud, to try to stop women from voting in Ohio.[68]
Women who were opposed to suffrage in Ohio, including Maria Longworth Storer, did not feel that women needed to vote.[72] Women who were part of the privileged and wealthy class did not face many of the problems experienced by working-class women.[72] In a novel by Longworth Storer, The Villa (1918), she described suffragists as "unsexed" criminals.[81]
Other women believed that women's influence was more powerful through working in civic organizations or women's clubs.[81] A petition circulating in Columbus in 1912 expressed the idea that women already had "their full share of influence and responsibility for the public welfare" without the need to vote.[82]
The German immigrant periodicals in Franklin County expressed opinions against women's suffrage.[50] Both local papers, Wöchentliche Columbus Express and the Express Und Westbote described suffragists as unladylike and uplifted the idea of women as the hausfrau.[50] English language periodicals in Columbus also sensationalized the more militant aspects of suffrage activism, publishing stories on the escalating tactics of suffragettes in London.[83] Both the articles published and the imagery used in political cartoons about suffragists "contributed to the stereotype of suffragists as militant or at least as potentially threatening the established sex roles."[84] The German American Alliance in Ohio also opposed women's suffrage.[85]
Some Progressive Party candidates in Ohio did not endorse women's suffrage privately, though publicly they signaled support.[86]
This timeline highlights milestones in women's suffrage in the United States, particularly the right of women to vote in elections at federal and state levels.
Women's suffrage was established in the United States on a full or partial basis by various towns, counties, states and territories during the latter decades of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. As women received the right to vote in some places, they began running for public office and gaining positions as school board members, county clerks, state legislators, judges, and, in the case of Jeannette Rankin, as a member of Congress.
Women's suffrage efforts in Texas began in 1868 at the first Texas Constitutional Convention. In both Constitutional Conventions and subsequent legislative sessions, efforts to provide women the right to vote were introduced, only to be defeated. Early Texas suffragists such as Martha Goodwin Tunstall and Mariana Thompson Folsom worked with national suffrage groups in the 1870s and 1880s. It wasn't until 1893 and the creation of the Texas Equal Rights Association (TERA) by Rebecca Henry Hayes of Galveston that Texas had a statewide women's suffrage organization. Members of TERA lobbied politicians and political party conventions on women's suffrage. Due to an eventual lack of interest and funding, TERA was inactive by 1898. In 1903, women's suffrage organizing was revived by Annette Finnigan and her sisters. These women created the Texas Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) in Houston in 1903. TESA sponsored women's suffrage speakers and testified on women's suffrage in front of the Texas Legislature. In 1908 and 1912, speaking tours by Anna Howard Shaw helped further renew interest in women's suffrage in Texas. TESA grew in size and suffragists organized more public events, including Suffrage Day at the Texas State Fair. By 1915, more and more women in Texas were supporting women's suffrage. The Texas Federation of Women's Clubs officially supported women's suffrage in 1915. Also that year, anti-suffrage opponents started to speak out against women's suffrage and in 1916, organized the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (TAOWS). TESA, under the political leadership of Minnie Fisher Cunningham and with the support of Governor William P. Hobby, suffragists began to make further gains in achieving their goals. In 1918, women achieved the right to vote in Texas primary elections. During the registration drive, 386,000 Texas women signed up during a 17-day period. An attempt to modify the Texas Constitution by voter referendum failed in May 1919, but in June 1919, the United States Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment. Texas became the ninth state and the first Southern state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on June 28, 1919. This allowed white women to vote, but African American women still had trouble voting, with many turned away, depending on their communities. In 1923, Texas created white primaries, excluding all Black people from voting in the primary elections. The white primaries were overturned in 1944 and in 1964, Texas's poll tax was abolished. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, promising that all people in Texas had the right to vote, regardless of race or gender.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Ohio. Women's suffrage activism in Ohio began in earnest around the 1850s, when several women's rights conventions took place around the state. The Ohio Women's Convention was very influential on the topic of women's suffrage, and the second Ohio Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio, featured Sojourner Truth and her famous speech, Ain't I a Woman? Women worked to create organizations and groups to influence politicians on women's suffrage. Several state constitutional amendments for women's suffrage did not pass. However, women in Ohio did get the right to vote in school board elections and in some municipalities before Ohio became the fifth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Even before women's suffrage efforts took off in Rhode Island, women were fighting for equal male suffrage during the Dorr Rebellion. Women raised money for the Dorrite cause, took political action and kept members of the rebellion in exile informed. An abolitionist, Paulina Wright Davis, chaired and attended women's rights conferences in New England and later, along with Elizabeth Buffum Chace, founded the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association (RIWSA) in 1868. This group petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly for an amendment to the state constitution to provide women's suffrage. For many years, RIWSA was the major group providing women's suffrage action in Rhode Island. In 1887, a women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution came up for a voter referendum. The vote, on April 6, 1887, was decisively against women's suffrage.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Rhode Island. Women's suffrage in Rhode Island started with women's rights activities, such as convention planning and publications of women's rights journals. The first women's suffrage group in Rhode Island was founded in 1868. A women's suffrage amendment was decided by referendum on April 6, 1887, but it failed by a large amount. Finally, in 1917, Rhode Island women gained the right to vote in presidential elections. On January 6, 1920, Rhode Island became the twenty-fourth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Women's suffrage began in Nevada began in the late 1860s. Lecturer and suffragist Laura de Force Gordon started giving women's suffrage speeches in the state starting in 1867. In 1869, Assemblyman Curtis J. Hillyer introduced a women's suffrage resolution in the Nevada Legislature. He also spoke out on women's rights. Hillyer's resolution passed, but like all proposed amendments to the state constitution, must pass one more time and then go out to a voter referendum. In 1870, Nevada held its first women's suffrage convention in Battle Mountain Station. In the late 1880s, women gained the right to run for school offices and the next year several women are elected to office. A few suffrage associations were formed in the mid 1890s, with a state group operating a few women's suffrage conventions. However, after 1899, most suffrage work slowed down or stopped altogether. In 1911, the Nevada Equal Franchise Society (NEFS) was formed. Attorney Felice Cohn wrote a women's suffrage resolution that was accepted and passed the Nevada Legislature. The resolution passed again in 1913 and will go out to the voters on November 3, 1914. Suffragists in the state organized heavily for the 1914 vote. Anne Henrietta Martin brought in suffragists and trade unionists from other states to help campaign. Martin and Mabel Vernon traveled around the state in a rented Ford Model T, covering thousands of miles. Suffragists in Nevada visited mining towns and even went down into mines to talk to voters. On November 3, the voters of Nevada voted overwhelmingly for women's suffrage. Even though Nevada women won the vote, they did not stop campaigning for women's suffrage. Nevada suffragists aided other states' campaigns and worked towards securing a federal suffrage amendment. On February 7, 1920, Nevada became the 28th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Nevada. In 1869, Curtis J. Hillyer introduced a women's suffrage resolution in the Nevada Legislature which passed, though it would wait for another legislative session to approve a second time. The first women's suffrage convention took place in 1870 in Battle Mountain Station. Several women's suffrage resolutions are voted on, or approved, but none complete the criteria to become amendments to the Constitution of Nevada. In the 1880s, women gain the right to run for school offices and several women run and win. Some Nevada women's suffrage groups work throughout the 1890s and hold more conventions. However, most suffrage work slows down or stops around 1899. The Nevada Equal Franchise Society (NEFS) was created in 1911. That same year, Attorney Felice Cohn writes a women's suffrage resolution that is accepted and passed by the Nevada Legislature. Anne Henrietta Martin becomes president of NEFS in 1912. The next year, Cohn's resolution passes a second time and will go out as a voter referendum the next year. On November 3, 1914 Nevada voters approve women's suffrage. Women in Nevada continue to be involved in suffrage campaigning. On February 7, 1920 Nevada ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Arizona. The first women's suffrage bill was brought forward in the Arizona Territorial legislature in 1883, but it did not pass. Suffragists work to influence the Territorial Constitutional Convention in 1891 and lose the women's suffrage battle by only three votes. That year, the Arizona Suffrage Association is formed. In 1897, taxpaying women gain the right to vote in school board elections. Suffragists both from Arizona and around the country continue to lobby the territorial legislature and organize women's suffrage groups. In 1903, a women's suffrage bill passes, but is vetoed by the governor. In 1910, suffragists work to influence the Arizona State Constitutional Convention, but are also unsuccessful. When Arizona becomes a state on February 14, 1912, an attempt to legislate a women's suffrage amendment to the Arizona Constitution fails. Frances Munds mounts a successful ballot initiative campaign. On November 5, 1912, women's suffrage passes in Arizona. In 1913, the voter registration books are opened to women. In 1914, women participate in their first primary elections. Arizona ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on February 12, 1920. However, Native American women and Latinas would wait longer for full voting rights.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Maine. Suffragists began campaigning in Maine in the mid 1850s. A lecture series was started by Ann F. Jarvis Greely and other women in Ellsworth, Maine in 1857. The first women's suffrage petition to the Maine Legislature was sent that same year. Women continue to fight for equal suffrage throughout the 1860s and 1870s. The Maine Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) is established in 1873 and the next year, the first Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) chapter was started. In 1887, the Maine Legislature votes on a women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution, but it does not receive the necessary two-thirds vote. Additional attempts to pass women's suffrage legislation receives similar treatment throughout the rest of the century. In the twentieth century, suffragists continue to organize and meet. Several suffrage groups form, including the Maine chapter of the College Equal Suffrage League in 1914 and the Men's Equal Suffrage League of Maine in 1914. In 1917, a voter referendum on women's suffrage is scheduled for September 10, but fails at the polls. On November 5, 1919 Maine ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment. On September 13, 1920, most women in Maine are able to vote. Native Americans in Maine are barred from voting for many years. In 1924, Native Americans became American citizens. In 1954, a voter referendum for Native American voting rights passes. The next year, Lucy Nicolar Poolaw (Penobscot), is the Native American living on an Indian reservation to cast a vote.
While women's suffrage had an early start in Maine, dating back to the 1850s, it was a long, slow road to equal suffrage. Early suffragists brought speakers Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone to the state in the mid-1850s. Ann F. Jarvis Greely and other women in Ellsworth, Maine, created a women's rights lecture series in 1857. The first women's suffrage petition to the Maine Legislature was also sent that year. Working-class women began marching for women's suffrage in the 1860s. The Snow sisters created the first Maine women's suffrage organization, the Equal Rights Association of Rockland, in 1868. In the 1870s, a state suffrage organization, the Maine Women's Suffrage Association (MWSA), was formed. Many petitions for women's suffrage were sent to the state legislature. MWSA and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Maine worked closely together on suffrage issues. By the late 1880s the state legislature was considering several women's suffrage bills. While women's suffrage did not pass, during the 1890s many women's rights laws were secured. During the 1900s, suffragists in Maine continued to campaign and lecture on women's suffrage. Several suffrage organizations including a Maine chapter of the College Equal Suffrage League and the Men's Equal Rights League were formed in the 1910s. Florence Brooks Whitehouse started the Maine chapter of the National Woman's Party (NWP) in 1915. Suffragists and other clubwomen worked together on a large campaign for a 1917 voter referendum on women's suffrage. Despite the efforts of women around the state, women's suffrage failed. Going into the next few years, a women's suffrage referendum on voting in presidential elections was placed on the September 13, 1920 ballot. But before that vote, Maine ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on November 5, 1920. It was the nineteenth state to ratify. A few weeks after ratification, MWSA dissolved and formed the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Maine. White women first voted in Maine on September 13, 1920. Native Americans in Maine had to wait longer to vote. In 1924, they became citizens of the United States. However, Maine would not allow individuals living on Indian reservations to vote. It was not until the passage of a 1954 equal rights referendum that Native Americans gained the right to vote in Maine. In 1955 Lucy Nicolar Poolaw (Penobscot) was the first Native American living on a reservation in Maine to cast a vote.
Attempts to secure women's suffrage in Wisconsin began before the Civil War. In 1846, the first state constitutional convention delegates for Wisconsin discussed women's suffrage and the final document eventually included a number of progressive measures. This constitution was rejected and a more conservative document was eventually adopted. Wisconsin newspapers supported women's suffrage and Mathilde Franziska Anneke published the German language women's rights newspaper, Die Deutsche Frauen-Zeitung, in Milwaukee in 1852. Before the war, many women's rights petitions were circulated and there was tentative work in forming suffrage organizations. After the Civil War, the first women's suffrage conference held in Wisconsin took place in October 1867 in Janesville. That year, a women's suffrage amendment passed in the state legislature and waited to pass the second year. However, in 1868 the bill did not pass again. The Wisconsin Woman Suffrage Association (WWSA) was reformed in 1869 and by the next year, there were several chapters arranged throughout Wisconsin. In 1884, suffragists won a brief victory when the state legislature passed a law to allow women to vote in elections on school-related issues. On the first voting day for women in 1887, the state Attorney General made it more difficult for women to vote and confusion about the law led to court challenges. Eventually, it was decided that without separate ballots, women could not be allowed to vote. Women would not vote again in Wisconsin until 1902 after separate school-related ballots were created. In the 1900s, state suffragists organized and continued to petition the Wisconsin legislature on women's suffrage. By 1911, two women's suffrage groups operated in the state: WWSA and the Political Equality League (PEL). A voter referendum went to the public in 1912. Both WWSA and PEL campaigned hard for women's equal suffrage rights. Despite the work put in by the suffragists, the measure failed to pass. PEL and WWSA merged again in 1913 and women continued their education work and lobbying. By 1915, the National Woman's Party also had chapters in Wisconsin and several prominent suffragists joined their ranks. The National Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was also very present in Wisconsin suffrage efforts. Carrie Chapman Catt worked hard to keep Wisconsin suffragists on the path of supporting a federal woman's suffrage amendment. When the Nineteenth Amendment went out to the states for ratification, Wisconsin an hour behind Illinois on June 10, 1919. However, Wisconsin was the first to turn in the ratification paperwork to the State Department.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Wisconsin. Women's suffrage efforts began before the Civil War. The first Wisconsin state constitutional convention in 1846 discussed both women's suffrage and African-American suffrage. In the end, a more conservative constitution was adopted by Wisconsin. In the 1850s, a German language women's rights newspaper was founded in Milwaukee and many suffragists spoke throughout the state. The first state suffrage convention was held in Janesville in 1867. The 1870s, several women's suffrage groups were founded in the state. In 1884, a women's suffrage bill, allowing women to vote for school-related issues is passed. In 1886, voters approve the school-related suffrage bill in a referendum. The first year women vote, 1887, there are challenges to the law that go on until Wisconsin women are allowed to vote again for school issues in 1902 using separate ballots. In the 1900s, women's suffrage conventions continue to take place throughout the state. Women collect petitions and continue to lobby the state legislature. In 1911 Wisconsin legislature passes a bill for women's suffrage that will go out to the voters in 1912. On November 4, 1912 voters disapprove of women's suffrage. Women's suffrage efforts continue, including sponsoring a suffrage school and with the inclusion of a National Woman's Party (NWP) chapter formed in 1915. When the Nineteenth Amendment goes out to the states, Wisconsin ratifies on June 10 and turns in the ratification paperwork first, on June 13, 1919.
In 1893, Colorado became the second state in the United States to grant women's suffrage and the first to do so through a voter referendum. Even while Colorado was a territory, lawmakers and other leaders tried to include women's suffrage in laws and later in the state constitution. The constitution did give women the right to vote in school board elections. The first voter referendum campaign was held in 1877. The Woman Suffrage Association of Colorado worked to encourage people to vote yes. Nationally-known suffragists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone spoke alongside Colorado's own Alida Avery around the state. Despite the efforts to influence voters, the referendum failed. Suffragists continued to grow support for women's right to vote. They exercised their right to vote in school board elections and ran for office. In 1893, another campaign for women's suffrage took place. Both Black and white suffragists worked to influence voters, gave speeches, and turned out on election day in a last-minute push. The effort was successful and women earned equal suffrage. In 1894, Colorado again made history by electing three women to the Colorado house of representatives. After gaining the right to vote, Colorado women continued to fight for suffrage in other states. Some women became members of the Congressional Union (CU) and pushed for a federal suffrage amendment. Colorado women also used their right to vote to pass reforms in the state and to support women candidates.
Women's suffrage began in North Dakota when it was still part of the Dakota Territory. During this time activists worked for women's suffrage, and in 1879, women gained the right to vote at school meetings. This was formalized in 1883 when the legislature passed a law where women would use separate ballots for their votes on school-related issues. When North Dakota was writing its state constitution, efforts were made to include equal suffrage for women, but women were only able to retain their right to vote for school issues. An abortive effort to provide equal suffrage happened in 1893, when the state legislature passed equal suffrage for women. However, the bill was "lost," never signed and eventually expunged from the record. Suffragists continued to hold conventions, raise awareness, and form organizations. The arrival of Sylvia Pankhurst in February 1912 stimulated the creation of more groups, including the statewide Votes for Women League. In 1914, there was a voter referendum on women's suffrage, but it did not pass. In 1917, limited suffrage bills for municipal and presidential suffrage were signed into law. On December 1, 1919, North Dakota became the twentieth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in North Dakota. Women's suffrage in North Dakota began while it was still part of the Dakota Territory. In 1879, women in the territory gained the right to vote in school meetings. Later, this was more formalized in 1883, providing women separate ballots for school issues. After North Dakota was a state, suffragists continued to work for full suffrage. A referendum on equal suffrage took place in 1914, but failed. In 1917, women gained the right to vote in municipal and presidential elections. On December 1, 1919, North Dakota became the 20th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Women's suffrage started in South Dakota when it was part of Dakota Territory. Prior to 1889, it had a shared history of women's suffrage with North Dakota. While South Dakota was part of the territory, women earned the right to vote on school related issues. They retained this right after it became a separate state. The state constitution specified that there would be a women's suffrage amendment referendum in 1890. Despite a large campaign that included Susan B. Anthony and a state suffrage group, the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association (SDESA), the referendum failed. The state legislature passed additional suffrage referendums over the years, but each was voted down until 1918. South Dakota was an early ratifier of the Nineteenth Amendment, which was approved during a special midnight legislative session on December 4, 1919.
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in South Dakota. The early history of women's suffrage in the state is shared with North Dakota. When South Dakota became a state, it held a voter referendum in 1890 on an equal suffrage amendment. This effort failed, but suffragists continued to organize and lobby the legislature to pass voter referendums. None passed until 1918. South Dakota ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on December 4, 1919.
Efforts toward women's suffrage began early in Iowa's history. During the territory's Constitutional Convention, discussions on both African American and women's suffrage took place. Early on, women's rights were discussed in the state by women such as Amelia Bloomer and petitions for suffrage were sent to the Iowa state legislature. While African American men earned the right to vote in 1868, women from all backgrounds had to continue to agitate for enfranchisement. One of the first suffrage groups was formed in Dubuque in 1869. Not long after, a state suffrage convention was held in Mount Pleasant in 1870. Iowa suffragists focused on organizing and lobbying the state legislature. In 1894, women gained the right to vote on municipal bond and tax issues and also in school elections. These rights were immediately utilized by women who turned out in good numbers to vote on these issues. By the 1910s, the state legislature finally passed in successive sessions a women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution. This resulted in a voter referendum to be held on the issue on June 5, 1916. The campaign included anti-suffrage agitation from liquor interests who claimed that women's suffrage would cause higher taxes. The amendment was defeated, though a subsequent investigation turned up a large amount of fraud. However, the election could not be invalidated and women had to wait to vote. On July 2, 1919, Iowa became the tenth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Pliley, Jessica R. (2008). "Voting for the Devil: Unequal Partnerships in the Ohio Women's Suffrage Campaign of 1914". Ohio History. 115: 4–27. doi:10.1353/ohh.0.0018. S2CID144676061.
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