New York
New York’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 York in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
New York’s Suffrage Timeline
1848
At the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton introduced the Declaration of Sentiments, which was modeled on the Declaration of Independence, declaring that women needed the vote to be equal citizens of the nation. Abolitionists Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass played important roles at Seneca Falls, with Douglass providing the necessary final vote for passage of the suffrage resolution.
1853
Susan B. Anthony, hailing from Rochester, began her life-long campaign for suffrage.
1868
Stanton and Anthony founded the American Equal Rights Association, but disagreements over the 15th Amendment’s failure to include voting rights for white women soon split the organization into two groups.
1890
The National American Woman Suffrage Association emerged from these two groups. Harriot Stanton Blatch, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Anna Shaw Howard operated out of New York, leading the organization’s nationwide suffrage efforts.
1908
Several hundred suffragists marched in a New York City suffrage parade.
1913-1914
Large suffrage parades in Albany, Buffalo, and Syracuse.
1915
The legislature approved a suffrage referendum, but voters soundly rejected the measure. The liquor industry, corporate interests, and the New York City political machine all actively opposed suffrage.
1916
Forty thousand women marched in New York City suffrage parade.
1917
20,000 marchers in New York City parade, days before voters cast state suffrage ballots. Suffragists organized voters in every district, conducted extensive outreach to immigrants in New York City, and allied with unions and working class voters. Voters approved the measure by 100,000 votes, and New York became the first East Coast state to grant women full voting rights.
June 16, 1919
New York ratified the 19th Amendment.
References
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. (2020, April 6). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/people/elizabeth-cady-stanton.htm
Albany’s Woman’s Suffrage Parade 1914. https://friendsofalbanyhistory.wordpress.com/2020/07/11/albanys-womans-suffrage-parade-1914/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Historic New York Suffragists. (n.d.). New York State. https://www.ny.gov/new-york-state-womens-suffrage-commission/historic-new-york-suffragists-0
New York Amendment 1, Women’s Suffrage Measure (1917). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_Amendment_1,_Women%27s_Suffrage_Measure_(1917)
New York Amendment 2, Women’s Suffrage Measure (1915). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/New_York_Amendment_2,_Women%27s_Suffrage_Measure_(1915)
New York and the 19th Amendment. (2019, August 9). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/new-york-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Susan B. Anthony. (2019, June 27). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/people/susan-b-anthony.htm
Woman Suffrage. (n.d.). Museum of the City of New York. https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/woman-suffrage
Women’s Suffrage in New York State. (n.d.). New York Assembly. https://nyassembly.gov/member_files/058/20090226/