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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – The Final Chapter

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – The Final Chapter

In 1910, Emma Smith DeVoe and May Arkwright Hutton led campaigns in Washington supporting the women’s suffrage amendment.  The ballot measure to amend Article VI of the Washington Constitution was on the 1910 General Election ballot and was passed by majority of 22,623, a favorable vote of nearly 2 to 1.  Washington State joined the western states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Idaho, that had already enacted women’s suffrage.  Washington was the first state in the 20th century to pass…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 11

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 11

Image courtesy of Washington State Archives In 1889, Congress passed the Enabling Act, which “enabled” Washington to draft a state constitution and request admission to the Union.  During the Washington State Constitutional Convention, women petitioned the delegates to include women’s suffrage in the new state constitution.  The issue was presented to the voters as a separate amendment on the ballot.  In the ensuing vote, 16,527 voters voted to include the amendment granting women the right to vote, but 34,613 voted…

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Come party like it’s 1910!

Come party like it’s 1910!

Mark your calendars for November 7 and 8 for two events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the vote to amend the Washington Constitution for women’s right to vote in the state as part of a Day of Jubilation.  The American Association of University Women is sponsoring a Women’s Suffrage Pink Tea at the State Capital Museum in Olympia  on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Visit this website for more details! The Office of the Secretary of State, the WSHS/Women’s…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 10

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 10

1887 and 1888 proved to be dark years for the women’s suffrage movement in Washington.  In the 1887 case of Harland v. Territory, the Territorial Supreme Court overturned the Women’s Suffrage Act of 1886 because it allowed women to serve on juries.  Justice George Turner (photo on left courtesy of Washington State Archives), who firmly believed that women were incapable of voting intelligently on public matters (tsk-tsk!), ruled that the title of the 1886 election law was defective and the…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 9

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 9

In 1884, after being convicted of running “a house of ill fame” in Spokane, Ms. Mollie Rosencrantz appealed to the Territorial Supreme Court on the grounds that she was convicted by a jury with women on it.  She argued that women did not have the right to sit on juries and might hold a bias in her case.  In light of the women’s suffrage law passed the previous year, the Territorial Supreme Court ruled that women also had the right…

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Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 7

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 7

My post is full of all kinds of drama and excitement today!  I have some good news, and then I have some bad news, but I’m going to end my post with some really great news.    The good news: on November 11, 1881, the Washington Territorial House of Representatives passed House Bill 103, a women’s suffrage bill by a vote of 13 to 11.  The bad news is that the measure was voted down by the Territorial Council, five to…

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