Idaho
Idaho’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 Idaho in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Idaho’s Suffrage Timeline
1889
Concerned about Mormons’ growing electoral influence, Idaho legislators incorporated a Test Oath (which had been part of its territorial laws) into its original state constitution. The provision resulted in the exclusion of all Mormon men and women from voting. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Idaho’s Test Oath in Davis v. Beason.
1890
When Idaho became a state, only men were permitted to cast votes. But Idaho could look to Colorado and Wyoming to see suffrage succeeding in the West.
1895
The Idaho Equal Suffrage Association (IESA) formed and partnered with national suffrage leaders to promote a referendum giving women the vote.
1896
The Boise Equal Suffrage Association (BESA) held its first meeting at the Boise City Hall, located at 8th and Idaho streets. Idaho Statesman editor William Balderson encouraged male readers to support the referendum.
Some of the nation’s leading suffragists, Carrie Chapman Catt and Abigail Scott Duniway, visited the state. Duniway, in particular, traveled multiple times to Idaho and campaigned in Boise, Moscow, Lewiston and Pocatello. Millionaire silver mine owner, May Arkwright Hutton, proved a fierce suffrage supporter both in Idaho and other Western states.
Prior to the 1896 vote and outside of polling stations, suffragists distributed leaflets and letters to voters urging them to support the amendment.
November 3, 1896
Two-thirds of Idaho’s voters cast votes in favor of the suffrage referendum.
February 11, 1920
Idaho ratified the 19th Amendment.
1982
Idaho voters repealed the Test Oath.
References
Abigail Scott Duniway. (n.d.). Idaho’s Women of Influence, Digital Collections, University of Idaho Library, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/iwi/items/iwi-20.html
Ahead of Her Time: Women’s Suffrage in Idaho. (2020, August 4). Public Broadcasting Service. https://www.pbs.org/video/ahead-of-her-time-woman-suffrage-in-idaho-p5mx2v/
Burns, B. (2020). Women’s Suffrage: Notes from the City Historian. Boise City Department of Arts and History. https://www.boiseartsandhistory.org/learn/suffrage/womens-suffrage-notes-from-the-city-historian.
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Colson,Dennis C., Idaho’s Founders and Their Mormon Test Oath. The Advocate, November 2007.https://idp.uscourts.gov/Content_Fetcher/index.cfml/The_Advocate_November_2007_1946.pdf
Idaho and the 19th Amendment. (2020, April 6). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/idaho-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Idaho Women’s Suffrage Amendment (1896). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Idaho_Women%27s_Suffrage_Amendment_(1896)
Joseph Williams. (n.d.). Malad, Idaho. https://www.maladidaho.org/pioneer-doctor/
Little Book of Boise Suffrage. (2020). Boise City Department of Arts & History. https://indd.adobe.com/view/924fb21f-25f4-4852-91d9-439805df2321