Nevada
Nevada’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 Nevada in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Nevada’s Suffrage Timeline
Late 1860s
Journalist and lawyer Laura de Force Gordon first advocated for women’s rights, when she traveled to several Nevada towns.
1869
After the first suffrage bill failed, the Nevada Legislature unsuccessfully attempted to pass suffrage legislation multiple times.
1911
The legislature passed a suffrage bill, drafted by Felice Cohn, the first woman to practice law in Nevada. Suffragists organized to support passage for the second required time in the upcoming legislative session.
1912
Nevada women formed the Nevada Equal Franchise Society (NEFS), and NEFS elected Anne Martin as its president.* Martin traveled across Nevada to advocate for suffrage passage, organizing auto tours to visit mining towns and conducting multicultural outreach across the state.
1913
The Nevada legislature passed Cohn’s 1911 legislation for the required second time. As Nevada voters’ approval was required, NEFS leaders visited mining towns and ranches to reach as many voters as possible. NEFS found that miners supported the suffrage movement, as they believed women would endorse efforts to unionize.
Suffragists organized in every county, and suffragist leaders visited 180 of the 240 election precincts in the state. As the referendum approached, anti-suffrage groups surfaced. The Nevada Association of Women Opposed to Equal Suffrage (NAWOES), led by Emma Adams, the wife of former Governor Adams, adamantly opposed suffrage.
1914
Sixty percent of Nevada’s voters supported the suffrage bill. Women gained full voting rights in Nevada six years before passage of the 19th Amendment.
February 6, 1920
Nevada ratified the 19th Amendment.
* Martin became the first woman to run for the United States Senate in 1918 and 1920. She ran as an Independent and lost both elections.
References
Anne Henrietta Martin. (n.d.). Nevada Suffrage Centennial. https://suffrage100nv.org/suffragist-biographies/anne-henrietta-martin/
Bennett, D., & Reno, M. (n.d.). Nevada Suffrage Timeline. https://suffrage100nv.org/about/suffrage-timeline/
Bernard, P. & Hoke, J. (2018). Emma (Lee) Adams. Nevada Women’s History Project. https://nevadawomen.org/research-center/first-ladies/emma-lee-adams/
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Felice Cohn. (n.d.). Online Nevada Encyclopedia. https://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/felice-cohn
Lane, T. (2022, November 3). A Look Back at the History of Nevada Women’s Suffrage. Las Vegas Review Journal. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/a-look-back-at-the-history-of-nevada-womens-suffrage-2669198/
Nevada Women’s Suffrage Amendment (1914). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Nevada_WomensSuffrage_Amendment_(1914)
Nevada and the 19th Amendment. (2019, August 22). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/nevada-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Rayfield, J. (2019, January 9). Overlooked No More: Laura de Force Gordon, Suffragist, Journalist, and Lawyer. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/09/obituaries/laura-de-force-gordon-overlooked.html
Anne Henrietta Martin. Nevada Women’s History Project. https://www.nevadawomen.org/research-center/biographies-alphabetical/anne-henrietta-martin/.
Woman Suffrage. (2019, April 11). Nevada Public Radio. https://knpr.org/show/nevada-yesterdays/2019-04-12/nevada-yesterdays