Minnesota
Minnesota’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 Minnesota in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Minnesota’s Suffrage Timeline
1870
Minnesota suffragists submitted a petition with 750 signatures to the legislature to give voting rights to all citizens age 21 and older. Although the bill passed both the House and the Senate, the governor vetoed the bill.
1875
The Minnesota Legislature amended the state constitution to allow women to vote in school elections and serve on school boards.
1881
Sarah Burger Stearns and Harriet Bishop founded the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA). As a 14-year-old, Stearns attended her first women’s rights convention after noting the inequalities in her school. MWSA elected Stearns as its first president and during her tenure, doubled its membership.
1885
Minneapolis hosted the American Woman Suffrage Association national conference, and the opening event was held at the Church of the Redeemer.
1893
The legislature rejected a constitutional amendment permitting municipal suffrage.
1898
The legislature enacted legislation allowing women to vote in library board elections.
1913
Clara Ueland founded the Equal Suffrage Organization of Minneapolis (ESOM). The next year, ESOM and the MWSA organized a 2,000-woman suffrage parade in Minneapolis, and after the parade’s success, Ueland became MWSA president. At approximately the same time, Nellie Griswold Francis founded the Everywoman Suffrage Club (ESC) and with other ESC members, attended the 1916 MWSA conference, believing that Black and white women needed to work together to advance the suffrage cause in Minnesota.
1915
The Minnesota Legislature considered suffrage again, but the amendment was defeated by a single vote in the Minnesota Senate.
1919
State legislators granted Minnesota’s women the right to vote for presidential electors. The U.S. Constitution gave states this power, and suffrage leaders understood that this type of voting would withstand legal challenge. It also was a precautionary safeguard in case the required thirty-sixth state did not ratify the 19th Amendment.
September 8, 1919
The Minnesota Legislature met in a special session and ratified the 19th Amendment, making it the fifteenth state to ratify.
References
Bellville, J. (2024, March 6). Explore A Timeline of Women’s Suffrage Efforts in Minnesota. Twin Cities PBS. https://www.tpt.org/post/explore-timeline-womens-suffrage-efforts-minnesota/
Cameron, Linda A. (2019, June 26). American Woman Suffrage Association Convention, Minneapolis, 1885. Minnesota Historical Society. https://www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/event/american-woman-suffrage-association-convention-minneapolis-1885
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Hess, S. (2021, June 3). Women’s Suffrage in Minnesota. Minnesota Digital Library. https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/womens-suffrage-minnesota
Nellie Griswold Francis, Learn About these Extraordinary Women, Votes for Women. Minnesota Historical Society. https://mnhs.gitlab.io/archive/votesforwomen/mnhsd7-mnhsorg.pantheonsite.io/votesforwomen/nellie-francis.htm
Loetscher, E. (2021, December 3). Ueland, Clara (1860-1927). MNOPEDIA. https://www.mnopedia.org/person/ueland-clara-1860-1927
Minnesota and the 19th Amendment. (2019, October 2). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/minnesota-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Okeson, T. (n.d.). Biographical Sketch of Sarah Burger Stearns. Alexander Street. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009656538
Women’s Suffrage in Minnesota: Overview. (n.d.). Gale Family Library. https://libguides.mnhs.org/suffrage