Connecticut
Connecticut’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 Connecticut in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Connecticut’s Suffrage Timeline
1867
Frances Ellen Burr gathered suffrage petition signatures to present to the Connecticut General Assembly, which rejected a suffrage bill (111-93).
1869
Burr and Isabella Beecher Hooker founded the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA). Beecher’s famous family included her half-sister, Harriett Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Through education and local organizing, CWSA argued that voting was a fundamental right for all women. Connecticut granted women limited voting rights in school official elections in 1893 and on library issues in 1909.
1910
Grace Markham founded the Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (CAOWA). Through pamphlets, meetings, and lobbying, CAOWA argued that women were unfit to vote, and that women suffered no injustices.
1914
CWSA organized Connecticut’s first suffrage parade with roughly 2,000 marchers. CWSA membership grew to 32,000 by 1917 and included many students. CWSA’s success occurred, in part, from its alliance with the Equal Franchise League, a younger suffrage group that showcased the need for women voters to clean up politics, public health, labor laws, and education.
1920
After Congress enacted the 19th Amendment, suffragists demanded that Governor Marcus Holcomb convene a special legislative session to consider suffrage. He refused, declaring that no emergency existed. In response, the National American Woman Suffrage Association established an Emergency Corps, where 48 women of the country’s most prominent suffragists, one from each state, held four days of widely-attended meetings in the state, culminating in a rally at the state capitol. Governor Holcomb said he would consider the special session request, but several days later Holcomb indicated he would not call legislators back for the special session.
September 14, 1920
Connecticut’s Legislature met for a special session, becoming the 37th state to ratify the 19th Amendment.
References
19th Amendment: The Fight Over Woman Suffrage in Connecticut. (2022, August 18). Connecticut History. https://connecticuthistory.org/19th-amendment-the-fight-over-woman-suffrage-in-connecticut/
Connecticut and the 19th Amendment. (2020, January 15). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/connecticut-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Frances Ellen Burr. (n.d.). Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.cwhf.org/inductees/frances-ellen-burr
Grace Raymond Hebard papers, Collection No. 400008, Box 21, Folder 7, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming. https://www.wyominghistoryday.org/index.php/theme-topics/collections/items/nawsa-press-release-april-22-1920
Isabella Beecher Hooker. (n.d.). Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.cwhf.org/inductees/isabella-beecher-hooker
Jenkins, J. (2016). The Long Road to Women’s Suffrage in Connecticut. Connecticut Explored. https://www.ctexplored.org/the-long-road-to-womens-suffrage-in-connecticut/
The History of Women’s Suffrage, Volume III. (2009, April 11). Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28556/28556-h/28556-h.htm
Thornton, S. (2022, March 7). A Feeling of Solidarity: Labor Unions and Suffragists Team Up. Connecticut History. https://connecticuthistory.org/a-feeling-of-solidarity-labor-unions-and-suffragists-team-up/