Arkansas
Arkansas’s Fight for Suffrage
Women worked for over 70 years to get the vote. Divisions over race, tactics, and strategy did not stop suffrage efforts. Women kept their eyes on the prize . . . suffrage. Learn more about the fight for suffrage in Arkansas in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Arkansas’s Suffrage Timeline
1868
At the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention, Delegate Miles Ledford Langley proposed that all Arkansas citizens aged 21 or older who could read and write in English be given the right to vote. Delegates rejected the suffrage proposal, and Langley wrote to Susan B. Anthony apologizing for the defeat.
1881
Lizzie Fyler, one of Arkansas’ first female lawyers, founded the Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). Fyler attended the 1884 National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in Washington, D.C.—the first in which Arkansas was represented.*
1888
Clara McDiarmid, wife of former Pulaski County clerk George McDiarmid, founded the Little Rock Suffrage Association. McDiarmid, an attorney, served as a Women’s Christian Temperance Union officer. During this time, Susan B. Anthony visited Little Rock to promote suffrage, and Arkansas delegates attended the 1890 and 1891 NAWSA conventions.
1888
Catherine Campbell Cunningham, Mary Burt Brooks, and Haryot Cohoon published the Woman’s Chronicle which became the state Temperance movement’s paper. The Arkansas Ladies Journal, another pro-suffrage paper started by Mary W. Loughborough soon entered the mix.
1911
New suffrage groups such as the Woman’s Political Equality League (WPEL) emerged.
1917
Representative John Riggs introduced suffrage legislation allowing women to vote in primary elections. The Arkansas House voted 71-19 in favor of the legislation, and the Arkansas Senate approved the bill by a vote of 17-15.
1918
Over 40,000 women voted in the midterm election and over 50 female delegates were elected to the Democratic State Convention.
1919
After Congressional passage of the 19th Amendment, Governor Charles Brough called a special session of the General Assembly. Arkansas became the 12th state to ratify the 19th Amendment by a 74-15 vote on July 28, 1919.**
* Fyler died suddenly at age 35.
** Jim Crow laws were enforced in Arkansas until passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and Black women were not able to vote post-1920.
References
Arkansas and the 19th Amendment. (2020, January 14). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/arkansas-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Cahill, B. (2015). Arkansas Women and the Right to Vote: The Little Rock Campaigns: 1868-1920. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. https://doi.org/10.2307
Celebrating 100 Years of Women Voting in Arkansas. (2019, July 19). State of Arkansas House of Representatives. https://www.arkansashouse.org/news/post/7598/celebrating-100-years-of-women-voting-in-arkansas
Clara Alma Cox McDiarmid (1847-1899). (2023, June 16). Encyclopedia of Arkansas. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/clara-alma-cox-mcdiarmid-8425/
Eliza A. (Lizzie) Dorman Fyler (1850-1885). (2023, June 16). Encyclopedia of Arkansas. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/eliza-a-11817/
Speer, L. (2018). Contributions of Women to Clark County’s History. Clark County Historical Journal. Ouachita Baptist University.
Women’s Suffrage. (n.d.). Arkansas Heritage. https://www.arkansasheritage.com/learn/commemorative-programs/womens-suffrage
Women’s Suffrage Movement. (2024, June 14). Encyclopedia of Arkansas. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/womens-suffrage-movement-4252/