The young women of today, free to study, to speak, to write, to choose their occupation, should remember that every inch of this freedom was bought for them at a great price. 

Abigail Scott Duniway

 
 

Women registering to vote in San Francisco, CA, Library of Congress. 

Woman Suffrage in the West

At first, the American Woman Suffrage Association’s strategy seemed promising as women started to win the right to vote state by state. The earliest suffrage victories were in the west. The territory of Wyoming granted women the vote in 1869, the same year as the founding of the two national suffrage organizations. When Wyoming became a state in 1890, the new government continued to allow women to vote. Three years later, Colorado became the next woman suffrage state. Utah and Idaho followed in 1896.

Suffragists from all over the country traveled to states considering new suffrage laws to advocate for their cause. They joined locals in their campaign to win the vote. In the 1890s, the rise of the Populist Party—a national political party that supported women’s rights—increased local support for woman suffrage in these states.

No new states granted woman suffrage between 1896 and 1910, but suffrage wins in Washington (1910) and California (1911) sparked new life in the suffrage movement’s state campaigns.

By Allison Lange, Ph.D.
Fall 2015

 

Essential Questions

  • How did woman suffrage in western states affect the rest of the suffrage movement?
  • Why did western states win the vote earlier tan others?
  • How did campaigns for suffrage in states that won it early compare to later campaigns?
  • What was US culture's view of women's roles?

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Documents, Objects, and Images

Featured
Suffrage Campaigns in California
Suffrage Campaigns in California

Public domain.

Until the passage of the 19th Amendment, state elections were held to decide if women should have the right to vote.  In 1869, the territory of Wyoming became the first to grant women the right to vote.  When Wyoming became a state, in 1890, the decision was upheld.  Colorado was next in 1893 and in 1896 both Utah and Idaho passed suffrage laws.  However, it would not be until 1910 that another state would let women vote, when Washington passed the law followed by California in 1911.  

Miss Jeannette Rankin, of Montana
Miss Jeannette Rankin, of Montana

Miss Jeannette Rankin, of Montana, speaking from the balcony of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Monday, April 2, 1917

Library of Congress

The Awakening
The Awakening

This image shows the western states that had granted women the right to vote.

Library of Congress

Part of the Vast Billboard Campaign of the Woman's Party. Putting up billboard in Denver-- 1916.
Part of the Vast Billboard Campaign of the Woman's Party. Putting up billboard in Denver-- 1916.

Photograph of unidentified woman putting up billboard with bucket and broom. Billboard reads: "'Women of Colorado, you have the vote. Get it for women of the nation by voting against Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic Candidate for Congress. Their party opposes national woman suffrage. The National Woman's Party." Billboard features image of young woman and a hat with "The Woman's Party" feather and a "50-50" price tag, above which is the motto "Our Hat's in the Ring."

 

Library of Congress

Route of Envoys Sent from East by the Congressional Union for Woman's Suffrage, to Appeal the Voting Women of the West
Route of Envoys Sent from East by the Congressional Union for Woman's Suffrage, to Appeal the Voting Women of the West

 Map of the United States showing tour of Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. Image of Alice Paul in lower left-hand corner. Captioned "Call to Women Voters to Assemble in Chicago June 5, 6, 7 to Launch A National Woman's Party."

 

Library of Congress