New Mexico
New Mexico’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 New Mexico in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
New Mexico’s Suffrage Timeline
1896
National suffragist leaders Laura Johns and Julia Nelson worked with local suffragists to found the New Mexico Woman Suffrage Association (NMWSA), as well as ten local suffrage clubs in the territory.
1910
With statehood, New Mexico’s Constitutional Convention adopted a state constitution that was almost impossible to amend, as successful amendments would require three-quarters of the total vote, and two-thirds of the vote in each county. Suffragists recognized that this requirement made passage of state suffrage reform in Nevada very difficult, so they advocated for narrower suffrage rights, such as voting for school boards and municipal suffrage. Even these limited efforts failed. NMWSA dissolved after several years.
1914
A new NMWSA formed to lobby in support of the federal suffrage amendment.
1915
Santa Fe’s suffragists held a suffrage parade with more than 150 women marching and riding in automobiles. Suffragists planned the Santa Fe parade route in detail, taking suffragists past the state capital building and ending in front of the home of the U.S. Senator Thomas Catron, a notorious suffrage opponent. The local press coverage covered the parade extensively, and Senator Catron continued to oppose the suffrage amendment.
1917
Adelina Otero-Warren* quickly became a major force in the suffrage movement. Otero-Warren ensured that materials were published in both Spanish and English for the large Spanish-speaking community. In addition to serving as the vice-chair of the New Mexico branch of the Congressional Union, Otero-Warren served as chair of both the New Mexico Republican State Committee’s Women Division and the Legislative Committee of the New Mexico Federation of Women’s Clubs. These connections allowed Otero-Warren to leverage her political connections for the suffrage movement and its lobbying efforts. Mabel Vernon and Ella Thompson assisted Otero-Warren in outreach to Spanish speaking communities.
February 21, 1920
New Mexico voted to ratify the 19th Amendment, making it the 32nd state to ratify.
* Jim Crow laws were enforced in Florida until passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and Black women were not able to vote post-1920.
References
Brandman, Mariana. (2020-2022). Adelina “Nina” Otero-Warren. National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/adelina-nina-otero-warren
Botwick, M. & Winter, A. (n.d.). The History of Voting Rights in New Mexico, 1848 – 1965. University Libraries, University of New Mexico. https://libomeka.unm.edu/content/suffrage/
Cahill, C. (2021, October 29). Suffrage in Spanish: Hispanic Women and the Fight for the 19th Amendment in New Mexico. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/suffrage-in-spanish-hispanic-women-and-the-fight-for-the-19th-amendment-in-new-mexico.htm
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Jensen, J. (1981). Disfranchisement is a Disgrace: Women and Politics in New Mexico, 1900 – 1940. New Mexico Historical Review, 56(1). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2537
Machen, M. (2019, October 26). Suffrage Timeline for New Mexico. League of Women Voters of New Mexico. https://www.lwvnm.org/history/suffrage-timeline.php
New Mexico and the 19th Amendment. (2019, August 22). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/new-mexico-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Pacheco, C. (2019, September 20). A Centennial Glimpse into New Mexico’s Suffrage Movement through “El Corrido de la Votación. Folklife. https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/new-mexico-suffrage-movement-corrido-de-la-votacion
Strykowski, Jason. (2021, June 26). ‘Sphere of Usefulness’: New Mexico and Women’s Suffrage. Santa Fe New Mexican. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/sphere-of-usefulness-new-mexico-and-womens-suffrage/article_d3a8babc-6f97-11ea-ab2a-23fc6a5b19dc.html
Women’s Suffrage and Voting Rights in New Mexico. (n.d.). Omeka Library. https://libomeka.unm.edu/exhibits/show/aysp/women-suffrage-in-new-mexico