The gallery was filled with delegations of women ready to unfurl the suffrage banners. The Illinois House had just voted unanimously to ratify the 19th Amendment but later a roll call vote yielded three dissenting votes. The Amendment passed in the House 132-3. The resolution was sent to the Senate where the vote was unanimous … Continue reading The Ratification of the 19th Amendment – June 10, 1919

Map showing the status of women's suffrage in each state, ca. 1919. In 1913 Illinois became the first state east of the Mississippi to give women the right to vote. It was a limited vote, but a powerful one. Illinois women were able to vote in all elections where it was not specifically prohibited by … Continue reading Illinois Women Gain the Vote in 1913

The woman’s suffrage movement in the U.S. began in 1848 with the first woman’s rights convention and the writing of the Declaration of Sentiments that outlined the need for expanding women’s rights, including the right to vote. In the years up to 1880 the suffrage movement struggled to gain a foothold in American women’s lives. … Continue reading Temperance and Suffrage – Connected Movements

Suffrage banner in Chicago, ca. 1916. Courtesy Library of Congress. Illinois women gained the right to vote in 1913 and though it was a partial vote it was a powerful one as it included voting for presidential electors among other state and local offices. A broad coalition of organizations and supporters had made the win … Continue reading Leading Up to 1920 – Women’s Suffrage In Illinois

Women at work in the offices of the Chicago Political Equality League, ca. 1916. The Illinois women’s suffrage movement began in 1855 with the formation of the state’s first suffrage association in Earlville, a small town in LaSalle County southwest of Chicago. Suffrage conventions held in 1869 linked early Illinois suffrage activism to the national … Continue reading A Brief History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Illinois