Arizona
Arizona’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 Arizona in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Arizona’s Suffrage Timeline
1883
The Territorial Legislature enacted legislation giving women the vote in local school board elections. Josephine Brawley Hughes and Pauline O’Neill, wife of Rough Rider Bucky O’Neill, organized suffragists to press for reforms. With the help of suffrage leader Frances Munds, suffragists gained Mormon, church, and club supporters.
1893
President Grover Cleveland appointed Hughes’ husband, Louis, territorial governor. With Governor Hughes’ support, legislative sessions regularly considered suffrage bills until 1899. Although suffragists often highlighted their femininity and domesticity throughout their campaigns, anti-suffragists argued that women belonged in the home, and they were unsuited to the corruption of politics. Suffragist groups did not frequently reach out to local Mexican audiences. But at least one suffragist, Laura Gregg, met with and sent Spanish speakers to the Mexican community and provided informational pamphlets and posters.
1912
After Arizona gained statehood, Representative John Hughes, Josephine Hughes’ son, introduced another suffrage bill. The House passed the bill, but the Senate rejected it. In response, Munds and the AESA collected over 4,000 signatures that put suffrage on the ballot for Arizona’s voters to decide.
With only four months to campaign, suffragists held rallies and canvassed at the Arizona State Fair. Suffragists hung a banner in Phoenix that pranksters continued to move. Every time the banner migrated, it generated more newspaper coverage!
1912
Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved a suffrage bill by a two-to-one margin.
1919
After the passage of the 19th Amendment, the State Legislature voted unanimously to ratify on February 20, 1920.
References
University of Arizona Libraries. (2020). Founding Mothers: From the Ballot Box to the University. https://exhibits.lib.arizona.edu/exhibits/show/foundingmothers/introduction
Arizona and the 19th Amendment. (2019, August 29). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/arizona-and-the-19th-amendment.htm