Through the work of cspans city tours, well introduce you to some of these women. Youll learn why western territories and states were on the leading edge of the movement and youll hear how a letter from a mother to her son would help lead to the ratification of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. We begin in syracuse new york where we talk about Lucretia Mott. Lucretia mott is the most important white female abolitionist and one of the most important women in American History. Yet, shes not received the same amount of historical attention as someone like Elizabeth Cady stanton. Shes not a household name. My biography of Lucretia Mott is titled Lucretia Motts heresy. And the heresy refers to her own activist strategy. He always said to other activists, we must agitate. He advised reformers to stand out in our heresy, to confront social injustices, political injustices, legal injustices, and not be afraid to be labeled an iniffidel or nonconformist. And thats what Lucretia Mott did. Lucretia mott was a 19th century american abolitionist, womens right activist and quaker minister. She lived from 1793 to 1880. She lived a very long life. She was born on the island of nantucket but she lived most of her adult life in philadelphia and that was the city from which she based her activism, which stretched across the United States and the atlantic as well. Lucretia mott definitely defined herself as a feminist and womens right activist and she traced her commitment to womens rights to her childhood, really, on the island of nantucket. It was a Community Based on the whaling industry. So the men in the community would go off on three to fiveyear voyages, leaving women to do the Household Finances and a lot of them ran businesses. So to mott, womens capability was known. She had always seen female ministers in her childhood and she eventually became one herself in 1821. So i think that sort of capacity for religious authority informed her commitment to womens rights. She got married to her husband james mott in 1811. And in the 18 teens and early 1820s, there was nothing necessarily to indicate that she would become a great activist. She eventually had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood. She became a quaker minister. But none of this was unusual. I think the key moment in Lucretia Motts life that turned her into an activist was the controversy in the society of friends. This occurred in the 1820s. And by 1827 the society of friends in the United States had split into two competing hostile groups known as the hick site and the orthodox quakers. And Lucretia Mott was a hick site quaker named after their leader. And they believed that the leadership of the society of friends had become complacent on the issue of slavery. They had done away with their ownership of slaves long before, and they viewed that as enough, right, to have removed themselves from direct contact. But hicks and Lucretia Mott believed that you had to sever all ties to slavery and for wealthy merchants in philadelphia, that was requesting quite a lot. They all had economic ties to the south. They all dealt in cotton. And even james mott, he struggled for a while to find a profession, to find a career that would support his family and eventually he succeeds, but its as a cotton merchant. Lucretia mott puts a lot of pressure on him, actually, to give up that business and eventually he became a wool merchant by 1830. So i think that was a radicalizing decades for her and she would speak on womens issues and antislavery issues in that when she became a minister and that was the formative period for her. But i think in the early 1830s in philadelphia, philadelphia had the largest population of free blacks in the north. Lucretia mott would have known them and interacted with them in free produce societies, for example, and probably tried to speak in africanamerican churches and otherwise connected with them. And there was a lot of race riots in philadelphia in the early 1830s. So the intensity of northern racism was very visible to her. And so when she attended the founding meeting of the American Antislavery Society in 1833 and then thereafter founded the philadelphia female Antislavery Society, she believed that their goal should be not only fighting slavery, but also racial prejudice. And so it was basically a twopronged approach. One of the things she did frequently was whenever she met a slave holder, as she did when she was traveling abroad or around the United States, she would often speak in delaware, virginia, kentucky, she spoke. She could engage, right, she would try to convince that slave holder that slavery was wrong. And whether they were being polite or just tolerating this lady, you know, poking them in the ribs, she seemed to have had some individual personal success. She said, this one slave holder i meant told me to send him pamphlets when i get home. Im going to send him some pamphlets. So i think thats she was not afraid of confrontation and engagement and she was going to try to persuade people that slavery was wrong, no matter where she was and who they were. Lucretia mott was not particularly interested in politics or the political process. But she did speak on multiple occasions in washington, d. C. , and at one point she was supposed to speak in congress. But because she would not agree not to talk about slavery, if thats clear, they wouldnt let her speak. And so instead she spoke in a Unitarian Church and all sports of politicians attended and, of course, she spoke about slavery because that was always what she was compelled to speak about. During that particular trip to washington, d. C. , in 1843, she met president tyler. And his line about Lucretia Mott was, you know, i think ill turn mr. Calhoun over to you. You can negotiate with john c. Calhoun for me. So that was sort of the level of her ferrousty. She first met Elizabeth Cady stanton in 1840 and Elizabeth Cady stanton was younger than her. She was 22 years younger than her. And when they met, they met in sort of unlikely place which was at the worlds Antislavery Convention in London England in 1840. You have two americans meeting in london. And they they had other connections. But Lucretia Mott was there as a delegate from various american antislavery societies. So she was officially there to attend the worlds Antislavery Convention. Elizabeth cady stanton was there on her honeymoon. She had just married an abolitionist named harry stanton. But the two women, i think, instantly connected and Elizabeth Cady stanton later described Lucretia Mott as a revelation of womanhood. I had never met a woman like this before and i didnt know that it was possible for women to be so outspoken and independent. So she really became an admirer of Lucretia Mott. Elizabeth cady stanton referred to Lucretia Mott as the moving spirit of the Seneca Falls Convention. But it was a label that Lucretia Mott rejected. She said, oh, no, elizabeth, you should claim that for yourself. It was your idea. But the fact is, it was the fact that Lucretia Mott was in the area that the convention was held. And her presence was advertised to draw attendees. So her sister lived in auburn new york, which is not far from seneca falls. She would come up to this part of the country regularly and so when she came up in 1848, she was actually engaged in a number of different activities. She attended an annual quaker meeting, she traveled to ontario, canada, to visit former slaves there, american slaves who had fled to canada. She went to the seneca reservation and witnessed them writing their constitution. Hes engaging shes engaging in all of these interesting activities in 1848. Native american rights, africanamerican rights, and womens rights. Before the Seneca Falls Convention in july 1848, she meets up with Elizabeth Cady stanton and other quakers in the area. They decide to hold this convention devoted to womens social, civil, and religious condition and they advertised that Lucretia Mott will be there and she will be the principle speaker. I think the publics perception of her is interesting. One newspaper once called her a grizzled cesar of the movement. She somehow shed her femininity by engaging in this activism. But the Antislavery Movement held her up as a you could be an excellent wife, mother and grandmother. You could also be an activist. I think for her, the activism and the family life blended seamlessly because her husband was also an abolition nist. He attended the first Womens Rights Convention at seneca falls and chaired the convention. And her children became involved in the philadelphia female Antislavery Society and other organizations for womens rights and womens suffrage in philadelphia. In many ways, her activism was a Family Affair and there wasnt a lot of conflict. At her funeral, someone said there was silence is appropriate for a quaker funeral. But someone said, who can speak . The preacher is dead. How much a void had been left by Lucretia Motts death because she always had something to say. And i think thats made her in some ways too good, right . Shes become, you know, almost what Elizabeth Cady stanton made her, a kind of saint. And, you know, in actuality, she was a deeper radical person for her time and was not afraid to speak her beliefs. In 1869 in new york city, Elizabeth Cady stanton and susan b. Anthony founded the national womans Suffrage Association to advocate for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. However, much of the womens rights movements early progress game came in the west. In oregon, Abigail Scott duniway who established a prosuffrage newspaper. Benjamin duniway was a very good husband and father to the children. He didnt have the maybe the level of business skill that somebody should have in managing a farm. And because of his kindness and generosity, he cosigned a loan for a friend and that friend defaulted on that loan and so as a result, the duniways lost their farm. That was in the mid 60s, i believe. After that. Benjamin was involved in a farming accident. So he became disabled. It therefore fell to abigail to be the breadwinner for the family. She did some teaching again. But eventually decided to move down to albany, oregon, a little town further south in the valley, and she set up a milnery shop, a hat shop. And apparently, she was quite successful in that business. She even traveled to San Francisco to get supplies for her business. But an important thing happened when she interacted with the women who came into her hat shop. She became aware of the difficulties women led in their lives. She realized they had no life, no standing in the community. They could not own property. They were dependent on their husbands and their husbands good will to lead a good life and she saw a lot of women who were suffering because of that. So at one point she realized, well, if women could vote, then they could enact change themselves and change the laws to benefit women and all women and all people. And so she turned her attention to the Suffrage Movement. She moved her family back up to portland. This was in the early 1870s and her first effort was to start her own newspaper and that was called the new northwest. This was the vehicle she used to communicate her suffrage efforts. Many members of her family were involved in producing this newspaper. One of her sons was a printer. So it was kind of like a family enterprise. So she communicated through the new northwest, that was an important part of her developing skill and becoming a suffrage leader in the northwest. But she also communicated with National Suffrage leaders and in 1871 she coordinated a visit by susan b. Anthony out to the west and she traveled with her on a speaking tour in california. So in very short order, i think its remarkable, in very short order, she all of a sudden had a significant standing and presence in the Suffrage Movement. Harvey scott was her brother. Of course he traveled with the family on the oregon trail. Apparently, he had been abusive to his siblings and there are counts of him beating up the sisters when they were growing up. And he kind of continued that tradition when he when the family came to oregon, eventually he became an editor at the portland oregonian, the largest newspaper in oregon. And he was an antisuffragist. He wrote editorials against suffrage. So in a way, he was beating up on ab he continued to beat up on abigail even as they were adults. Theres in the 1900 campaign, i believe suffrage for women would have passed, had it not been for harvey scotts editorials in the portland oregonian. If you tabulate the number of votes passed, in the county it was what sunk the passage of suffrage that year. And here is a letter abigail is writing to her son clyde. And he and so this is the 1900 campaign. And they were waiting for the returns to come in. And she says, my dear clyde, last night after five days of waiting for returns during which the oregonian and your mad uncle have subjected the decent women of oregon to every form of insult, willis came to me with the news that the returns showed 45 of the vote to be in the affirmative. With the four counties we dependent most upon to be heard from. And she says, i was quite sick until i got returns. Besides the awful abuse of the oregonian, now i shall set the coward up. And i think shes referring to her brother, harvey. One of the interesting things about the effort to pass suffrage in oregon and duniways involvement in that effort was the change that came about in the way that measures could be presented to the citizenry for voting. And initially when duniway started out on her campaign work, she used what she called the still hunt. And that was to quietly get in good with the man who had been elected to the Oregon Legislature and to quiet their favor. She didnt want to disturb the opposition. And womens suffrage was presented on the ballot. And each time it was defeated. In oregon, suffrage was presented six times, more than any other state. But eventually during the progressive movement, and in particular, he wanted to change that process. And he advocated for the initiative and referendum system which all the states now use. Its called the oregon system. And that way people could gain support for measures by getting enough signatures and then it would be presented to the voters. So by the time suffrage was passed in oregon, duniways technique of the still hunt was not effective because it was not necessary. And eventually there were many other women who came forward to carry on the campaigns. One woman in particular, a physician in portland, spearheaded the effort, and it was largely through their effort and the use of more modern Campaign Techniques like mass mailings, storefront campaign shops, marching in parades, more radical techniques like that that really pushed it over and managed to pass suffrage in 1912 in oregon. When suffrage was passed in 1912, duniway, she was often bedridden during the 1912 campaign when suffrage was finally passed. And so she wasnt really much effective, but people she had been working for suffrage for 42 years by that time. She had devoted her life to this cause. And people feted her. A lot of people sent congratulatory telegrams to her. Here are some examples to mrs. Abigail scott duniway, congratulations on the triumph of justice, from the national Suffrage Association, heres one from medford, the medford equal Suffrage Association assure you that its making every effort to win the franchise at the coming election, that your many days of effort for the cause of women may be crowned with success. So this is actually sent before the vote, this was october and the vote was in november. We congratulate the women of oregon upon their new citizenship. This victory must help us to success in the near future. From the cleveland womens suffrage party. Bless the day and send love and congratulations to our dearest trail breaker who has made its dawning possible. The congratulations poured in and its just so wonderful that she lived long enough to see suffrage passed in oregon and she voted. She was able to vote which is pretty special. We have in the collection this scrapbook that duniway kept during her years as a suffrage leaders. It has some photographs in it. But mainly it includes afemora about her lectures, also includes things like some correspondence and newspaper clippings that she kept. And this is also a really great resource for any researcher who wants to study this topic about the history of suffrage in oregon or about duniways life. In her per suit for suffrage in oregon, Abigail Scott duniway would travel to meet with fellow suffragists. One stop was with the bigelows. Were at the bigelow house, one of the citys oldest homes. It was built by daniel and Anna Elizabeth bigelow. When Daniel Bigelow arrived in olympia in november of 1851, he set up his law practice and he was a great orator as well. He was called upon to give the fourth of july oratoruation and that was credited with spurring the development of a separate territory from washington to oregon. While washington did become a separate territory from oregon and Daniel Bigelow was elected to the very first legislative session held here in olympia. We know that daniel and Ann Elizabeth bigelow were active in the campaign for Voting Rights for women. And this is the chair where susan b. Anthony sat when she came to the house in 1871. She and Abigail Scott duniway were on a swing through the Pacific Northwest and she had dinner here at the bigelow house. We know that from her diary where she called mrs. Bigelow splendid. There was a lot of advocacy for the womens right to vote. Daniel bigelow was serving in the legislature and he gave a landmark speech about womens suffrage. Man has no more right to say that woman shall or shall not vote than woman has to say the same of man. As a matter of natural right, i know of no valid argument to deny franchise to women any more than to man. In our form of government, the more universal the right of franchise, the greater the security to individual rights. In 1871, susan b. Anthony addressed the Territorial Legislature and she and the bigelo bigelows formed the first Suffrage Association and held their convention in olympia in november of 1871. This really set a wonderful framework for advocacy for women to gain the right to vote. And that game to fruition in 1883 when the legislature enacted womens right to vote in washington. And it was only women in wyoming and utah that had the right to vote after the civil war before women in washington. It was quite challenging as you might imagine. There was concern that women would vote for prohibition. Besides having the right to vote, they could serve on juries and there were a series of cases that came before the Supreme Court first upholding the right to vote and then in 1887, womens right to vote was invalidated on a technicality. Finally in 1910, women in washington permanently achieved the right to vote and were the fifth state in the union where women had the right to vote. This year, marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment. Wyoming was the 27th state to pass that amendment. However, decades yearly, wyoming as a territory passed the first women suffrage laws in the u. S. Our visit helps explain why this newly formed territory was a prime spot for this historic legislation. We are in the womens hallway of the Laramie Plains museum. In this hallway we begin to tell you the story of why wyoming was so unique, granting women this right to vote, hold property, and elected office. In 1869, the legislature dictated this. Its remarkable that we have a copy of this. They have it at the capitol. But we have this copy that is so extraordinary to see that writing, that fanciful writing that said what was happening in the west. Because of this act, december 10th, 1869, giving women full rights alongside men, we had the first woman voter in the world, we had the first woman bailiff, we had the first women on a jury. We had all of wyomings women able to be in the legislature. We h we had the first woman governor in the world. All of these were the cavalcade fallout from the beautiful suffrage act of december 10th of 1869. Here we just have a few more mentions of our women who were important. And here we have a great thing where her friends were so worried. Shes out in the west caught in this suffrage act and she writes about it. She says, oh, yes, some of my friends are eastern girls who judge womens suffrage by the english suffragette reports and think that any woman who votes must be dreadful. While a woman who holds office must be abhorrently beyond hope. I told them about a friend of mine who had recently been elected to a county office and assured them she was as nice and modest as any of them. They assured me you couldnt possibly stay so. You would become mannish in a very short time. When we leave this hallway, were going to go out into the foyer and into the salon which has been set up as a defense of suffrage. Come with me. Were going to go into the drawing room or the withdrawing room in the victorian age where they with drew for special events. Were here showcasing a defense of the suffrage act. We have an exhibit set up here. And here are the ivansons. This home is the largest artifact we have and their place of residence after 24 years when they first came to laramie. They made their fortune and built this house 24 years later. In here, we tell the towns history like this suffrage act. We have december 10th, 1869, the wyoming Territorial Legislature passing this law that disgruntled a lot of people. Why is that happening in the west . Why is it happening in wyoming territory. At the time, we had just become wyoming territory from dakota territory. And one of the reasons they did it, they needed to attract women to the west. This was a place of cowboys and Railroad Workers hammering out a railroad. We had the Central Pacific coming in from california, the union pacific, and it was fast and furious. We had crazy Living Conditions out here. And the legislature wanted to attract those women women to come, be part of this adventure. They gave them full rights. Full rights. Im telling you, it was full Voting Rights. It was full Holding Property rights, it was full Political Office rights. Theres no other state that could claim that, no other territory that could claim that. North dakota and utah i like to believe they had the first woman voter and they may have. But they voted in restricted elections. Wyoming women never had to do that. They were on the same terms with men which is quite extraordinary. So in here, we have maybe Elizabeth Cady stanton coming to the ivansons salon to listen about the defense of suffrage. It was passed in 1869. In 1871, wyoming was giving getting so much grief that the legislature was saying, maybe we should rescind this act. Steven downey, this is an exhibit of steven speaking about this possibly in this salon, speaking about the defense of the act because in 1871, people were giving wyoming territory such grief about having an act where women had the same rights as men. And downey stood there, wrote a very remarkable speech and spoke to the wyoming public about how important this was, that we keep this, that we retain this. It was retained in 1871 by one vote in the legislature. Then fast forward, lets fast forward, 17 years. Wyoming territory is wanting to become a state. Washington, d. C. , says, no one else in the world, or in the United States, is giving women these kind of rights. You need to rescind that act and well let you become a state. Wyoming said, dont care. Then well remain a territory. We will not become a state unless we can hold all of these rights that our women have had. So when you talk about that wyoming had the first woman voter in the world in 1869, you had the first women on a jury in 1870, first women bailiff, first woman bailiff, first woman justice of the peace, all of those could happen because wyoming had given women that right. Its remarkable. Its a fact that nobody ever knows about. And how great is it that we can tell this story. This is our 150th anniversary of that gift to women and to men by the men of wyoming territory. While the National American womens Suffrage Association would continue to focus on gaining womens suffrage at the state level, the National Womans Party wanted a constitutional amendment ensuring womens suffrage throughout the u. S. Their strategy included a protest in front of the white house. One of these protestors was a 23yearold from billings, montana, hazel hunkens hallonan. She is a surprisingly sharp tongue. She grew up in colorado, came to billings in 1903 and becomes one of the better students at billings senior high. She was voted most popular, second smartest, and third most conceited. And so in 1908, she makes her way off to college. Gets a chemistry degree and works in chemistry labs for a period of time until 1916. She comes back home to care for her ailing mother and when her mother starts feeling better, she starts applies for more jobs for chemistry labs. And shes told several times, youre qualified but we really dont want a Woman Working in our labs. And she decided, thats what im going to do. Im going to get involved with womens fights. One of the first things that hazel and her comrades did was protest in front of the white house for several years. They protested in front of the white house carrying signs, demanding equal rights and suffrage for women. At one point they had 2,000 antisuffragist protestors against less than two dozen women protesting for their rights, and these women and these antisuffragist protesters tore their signs away. The next day they would come back again, hazel brings another sign saying we want the right to vote. And then they would be arrested. These two or three dozen women kept this activity up in front of the white house basically within eye shot of president wilson who they had hoped would great National Suffrage. We didnt hear of her or know her story here in billings, montana. But once we started looking at the National Press, the San Francisco examiner had stories about hazel, climbed over the white house fence and lit watch fires below president wilsons window at the white house, you know, and the Washington Post would write stories about hazel climbed a picket in front of the white house and had her sign tore away from her and was arrested. The same story is covered in the gazette and it says, billings woman, innocent victim. And so the coverage that she was getting here in billings was completely different than what the National Press was getting. Initially the press welcomed them. They said, isnt this sweet . Here is this cute little girl from montana, age 23 and smart. Once world war i kicked in, these protestors were looked at completely different. And what she said to defend herself was, you know, we see all of these soldiers being sent overseas to fight for democracy. Were just doing the same thing here in our own country. The women with the National Womens party are fighting for democracy on our own soil. Finally when the passage of the 19th amendment went through in 1920, hazel completely transforms herself and becomes a different type of feminist. She actually marries a chicago reporter and they move to england. They move to england and she lives in london for the next 50 years, becomes the leader of the six point group, a feminist organization out of england. Shes the only americanborn leader of the group in that whole 50 years. And in 1977, she comes back to the u. S. To fight for the equal rights amendment. And in 1977, she ends up marches in the protest. Shes called a hell raiser at age 87. She ends up at a rose garden ceremony and he supports their activities and causes. This is a lifelong process for her. Its fun when i tell this story, you know, i could stop at the equal rights amendment in 1920 and say, this is a life worth looking at. But then you add 50 years of feminist leadership in england and then i could stop then and say, this is a life worth looking at. But then i can take people into the 1970s and talk about her work with the equal rights amendment and that fight there. She was not afraid to speak her mind. In the end, she chose to be buried with her husband at Mount View Cemetery here in billings. The early years of the Suffrage Movement, an 8yearold Emma Smith Devoe would attend a speech inspiring her to carry the fight into the 20th century. She would play an Important Role in the package of suffrage legislation in the United States including washington in 1910. Washingtons importance in the national receive rampage effort comes by the fact that we were the first state in the 20th century and followed a 20year lag between states adopting their own suffrage amendment and it takes a certain number of states to pass a National Amendment to the constitution and we were the fifth state. In all of the first six states were located here in the west. And washington became a pivotal state making that leap into the 20th century and after we passed it in 1910, there was a domino effect across the country. Medial immediately oregon passed it, followed by california, moved to the dakotas, nebraska and montana and then progressed across to new york in 1919 and then of course the National Amendment passes in 1920. So you could call us a big turning point in the effort to gain suffrage for women in the United States. In 1848, the big event that began the Suffrage Movement, however, did happen in new york. That was the Womens Convention in seneca falls led by susan b. Anthony, among other leaders. And interestingly enough, right after that, she began susan b. Anthony began a whirlwind trip to territorial areas of the United States and states to advocate for womens rights. And to vote and one of if early leaders in the 20th century in Washington State saw her in 1848 as an 8yearold, barnstorming through illinois. And that is Emma Smith Devoe who ends up becoming a leader of the Washington State Suffrage Movement and lived and worked right here in tacoma, near our history museum. She saw susan b. Anthony in Central Illinois when she was 8 years old and susan b. Anthony asked, who in the audience believes women should have the right to vote . And as an 8yearold, she stood up and that was a memorable experience that definitely has a connection to our state from 1848 right through to 1910. Right about the same time as the Womens Convention in seneca falls, women and men, of course, families were traveling west. These were hearty people. And at that time, about 1850, Congress Passed the oregon donation land claim laws. Anybody who came to the oregon territory before 1849 got outright 640 acres of land. After 18 50rks they c50, they c half. The interesting thing is, that amount of land, half of it, was in the womans name. 320 acres were given to a couple. If you were a single man, you got half of that. If you were a single woman, you got half of that. Half of that acreage was in the womans name. Right away, women have land claim ownership and that was an important part of the oregon trail era. By 1853, washington becomes a separate territory from oregon, and in the first territorial legislative meeting which was in olympia, which, of course, becomes our capital city, eventually, the early parties early delegates wanted to pass womens suffrage in washington. That was part of the platform for the first legislative session in that Territorial Congress for washington and it got voted down. But it was brought up right away and there were very early men in the legislature who advocated for womens suffrage. Fast forward to the 1880s and washington is working very hard at the effort to become a state which is achieved in 1889. But in the 1880s, women in the territory win the right to vote in 1883. Now, immediately they start to vote for a more Progressive Agenda in the Territorial Legislature and they also unseat some of the more corrupt leaders in communities like the seattle mayor who was known to have have influence with the saloons, proha prostitution and gambling. They vote him out of office. You can imagine that suffrage is not proving that popular with a lot of people and while the legislature, the legislature in those days before we were a state could vote yea or nay and pass receive rampasuffrage, it an amendment to the constitution. And women argue that the constitution said he or male in a lot of places and it should be women or men. And they voted for it and it passed. Who got it rescinded in 1888, the territorial Supreme Court who was opposed to women voting and one particular justice really, really opposed it and opposition came because men did not want women serving on juries and that is where the division came up and the territorial Supreme Court short version is they voted to rescind they passed a decision that removed womens right to vote. So by 1906, Emma Smith Devoe, that little girl who stood up for susan b. Anthony, has relocated here with her husband. She has in the interim years been a paid staffer working on behalf of suffrage and temperance throughout the midwest. And by paid, they were she was paid i think 100 a month by the National American womens Suffrage Association. So she comes out here to become the leader of the Washington State Suffrage Movement by 1906. Her husband works for the Great Northern railroad so she has a salary and he gets her railroad passes. She can travel all over on a Free Railroad ticket which was a great advantage. So they moved to tacoma and she along with others establishes the washington equal Suffrage Association which shes president of. And i thought it was interesting that her message becomes the most powerful. To counteract this view that washington women dont want suffrage, they really work hard organizing through 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, and we know we want to get this suffrage bill passed. And so we have to get an amendment out there to the voters. And it has to be passed by twothirds of a majority of voters, male voters, in the state of washington to pass. So we have a combination of important women coming together. Emma smith devoe, tacomabased leader of the Washington State suffrage group, joins up silver mines in northern idaho. She married a railroad engineer by the name of hutton, and they buy an interest in the Hercules Mine. Well, the Hercules Mine becomes the most profitable silver mine of that era in idaho. And they become millionaires almost overnight. She is a very colorful figure. Emma comes out of the temperance, abolitionist Suffrage Movement, and you have may who comes to this from a colorful past. And together they ascend on olympia and the legislature, that is all men, of course, and they Work Together in different ways to get the legislature to approve an amendment for the ballot. So, in january of 1909, the house votes for the amendment and it passes by, i think, 10 to 20 votes. And then in february the senate votes. The Washington State Senate Passes by a bigger majority. And on february 25, 1909, the governor signs a bill to create the opportunity for washingtonians to vote for the suffrage for women in Washington State. So, theres that vote is going to come up before Washington Men in november of 1910. So, the suffrage amendment passes on november 8, 1910. And washington becomes the fifth state in the union to pass suffrage. The people coming west were people who were probably risktakers, who were looking to break out of some conventional life that they might have experienced in the east. And a lot of suffragettes came from the east and worked hard because they saw the opportunity. Since the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, 71 years would pass before Congress Proposed a 19th amendment to the u. S. Constitution, prohibiting the denial of Voting Rights based on gender. The amendment would require ratification by 36 states. By august 1920, 35 states ratified the amendment with the Tennessee Legislature set to vote on the matter. On the eve of the vote, one young Legislature Received a persuasive letter from his mother. This is a letter that was written by phoebe burn to her son, harry t. Burn, who was a brand new legislator in 1920. He was 24 years old. He had just been elected to the legislature. And the suffrage put the push to ratify the suffrage amendment was coming to a close. Suffrage leaders had eight states to choose from and they thought tennessee was the best bet. They had a lot of supporters and a lot of people who were extremely hostile. And its not dated but it has a postmark on it of august 17, 1920. And the vote was just i think it was august 20th, just a short time later. The state senate had approved the ratifications. It was like 254. I mean, it was really strong. The governor was for ratification and the house was for it. It was a tie. It was really a seesaw. About 4949 votes. Harry had was 24. He was studying law. He was just getting his start in life. His mother was his mother was a widow. His mother, a brother and sister back in tennessee where their home was. So, he was in nashville as a newbie in the state legislature. And had to deal with this really complicated question. He was reading law with a man who was extremely who came out as extremely antisuffrage and he was on he was unwilling to take a stand. They thought he was kind of an either or. They werent sure but they thought he was going to maybe vote no. He got this sixpage letter from his mother right before the vote in august 1920. And she it was a newsy letter, handwritten on a tablet with six pages written in pencil. In the course of the letter, it wasnt just about politics. It wasnt just about to ask him to vote for suffrage, but in the course of the letter she twice asked him to vote for suffrage. I particularly like this passage right here where she says, hooray, vote for suffrage and dont leave them in doubt. I noticed chandlers speech. It was very bitter. Ive been watching to see how you stood but have not seen anything yet. And chandler was the man he was reading law with who was also in the legislature. He was really kind of in a pickle of a situation. When he came into the vote, there was a lot of parliamentary maneuvering the day the final vote took place. And he voted in a way that looked like he was going to be a no vote until the final roll call was taken. It was going to be a close loss or a tie or a win. They really didnt know until he voted aye. When he voted yes, then they got hopeful. There was one other vote at the end of the alphabet they had to get. When that man voted yes, it was pandemonium in the legislature. I like this little part of the letter right here. Towards the end of the letter she said, dont forget to be a good boy and help mrs. Thomas cat with her rats. Is she the one that put the rat in ratification . Ha. No more from mother. Love mother. This was a cartoon that was going around at the time. Katherine cat was the leader of the people pushing for suffrage. And she was in nashville at the hermitage hotel. And the cartoon they were putting around the country, she had a broom chasing the r. A. T. That was separated from the rest of the word ratification and she was trying to shoo those together. It was rumored it had been destroyed because it was so folksy that they thought maybe his people had said they destroyed it because it wasnt really a formal letter written in ink and proper and all that, but it wasnt. And harry burns son, harry t. Burns jr. , wanted this letter to be put here so people could have access to it and know it did exist. For a while, people said it didnt exist. For a while, people said it never was real or wasnt even written. When the 75th anniversary of suffrage came around and people focused on tennessee, we were able to bring it out and show people, yes, it really did exist and we have it along with all the other material that harry saved about ratification. He was right in the center of the storm. Cspans cities tour travels the country exploring the american story. With the support of local cable providers, we bring you the history and literary life on a different city on American History tv. To watch videos on any places weve been, go to cspan. Org citiestour and follow us on twitter cspancities. We can nights were featuring American History tv program as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight, we go to philadelphia to see congress hall, the u. S. Congress met in the building from 1790 to 1800. And ratified the bill of rights there. Our guide is National Park Service Ranger matthew ival. Watch beginning at 8 00 eastern and enjoy American History tv every weekend on cspan3. Every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3, go inside a Different College classroom and hear about topics ranging from american revolution, civil rights and u. S. President s to 9 11. Thanks for your patience and for logging into class. With most College Campuses closed due to the impact of the coronavirus, watch professors transfer teaching to a virtual setting to engage with their students. Gorbachev did most of the work to change the soviet union, but reagan met him halfway. Reagan encouraged him. Reagan supported him. Freedom of the press, which well get to later, i should mention, madison originally called it freedom of the use of the press, and it is, indeed, freedom to print things and publish things. It is not a freedom for what we now refer to institutionally as the press. Lectures in history on American History tv on cspan3 every saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Lectures in history is also available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. The u. S. Capitol has been
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