Women’s History Consortium

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

November 4, 2010 Secretary of State's Office

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…

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 6

September 3, 2010 Secretary of State's Office

The year was 1878. In hope of qualifying Washington for statehood, a Constitutional Convention was held in Walla Walla to draft a state constitution (which Congress failed to ratify). A separate measure granting women to vote was put on the ballot, but it was rejected by a three-to-one margin of all-male voters.

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 4

August 16, 2010 Secretary of State's Office

The year was 1875. Territorial legislators introduced a women’s suffrage bill, but the measure lost in the House by a vote of 15 to 11. Better news next week, I promise!

Countdown to the November 8th Day of Jubilation – Part 3

July 30, 2010 Secretary of State's Office

In 1871, Daniel Bigelow brought before the Territorial Legislature a bill granting women’s suffrage. However, the Legislature rejected the bill by enacting a law which declared that women could not vote until the U.S. Congress made it the law of the land. (Dave Hastings alluded to this in his comment on my previous post.) Here is what they said: “Hereafter no female shall have the right of ballot at any poll or election precinct in this Territory until the Congress of the United…

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