Ohio
Ohio’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 Ohio in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Ohio’s Suffrage Timeline
1850
500 Ohio suffragists attended the Ohio Women’s Convention, the first woman’s rights convention held outside of New York. A year later, Akron hosted the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, where Sojourner Truth, who had escaped enslavement, delivered her famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?”
1869
The Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association (OWSA) began its decades-long fight for suffrage. OWSA’s advocacy efforts launched six suffrage bills in the legislature between 1888 and 1894.
1891
Harriet Taylor Upton began hosting equal rights meetings in her home. In addition to being OWSA president (1899-1908, 1911-1920), Upton served as National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) treasurer. Elizabeth Hauser, a journalist and activist, worked closely with Upton to organize rallies and speeches, write suffrage-related literature, and testify in favor of suffrage.
1894
The legislature passed a bill allowing women to vote in school elections. Anti-suffragists challenged the law, which the state Supreme Court upheld.
1912
Ohio legislators agreed to allow Ohioans to vote on a state suffrage amendment. With three months to prepare, local suffragists and 50 NAWSA volunteers organized a parade and appealed to voters through leaflets and flyers. The liquor industry launched a campaign against the amendment, arguing that suffrage would usher in Prohibition. In September, anti-suffragists soundly defeated the state constitutional amendment.
1914
Ten thousand people gathered in support of suffrage for a two-mile-long parade.
1915
Ohio’s voters defeated a suffrage measure by more than 100,000 votes.
1917
Legislators passed a bill giving women voting rights in presidential elections. Anti-suffragists mobilized quickly and overwhelmingly won a repeal of the measure.
During the following years, suffragists urged their congressional delegation to support the 19th Amendment and lobbied state legislators to quickly ratify the 19th Amendment after passage.
June 16, 1919
Ohio ratified the 19th Amendment, simultaneously passing a bill ensuring that women could vote in the 1920 presidential election if the amendment were not officially added to the Constitution by then.
References
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Morton, Marian. (n.d.). Cleveland 1914 March for Suffrage. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-1914-march-suffrage
Metzger, K, & The Upton Association. (2020, June 1). Upton, Harriet Taylor (1853-1945). Trumbull County Historical Society. https://www.trumbullcountyhistory.com/upton-harriet-taylor-1853-1945/
Morton, Marian. (n.d.). Hauser, Elizabeth. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. https://case.edu/ech/articles/h/hauser-elizabeth
Morton, Marian. (n.d.). Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association (OWSA). Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. https://case.edu/ech/articles/o/ohio-womans-suffrage-association-owsa
Ohio and the 19th Amendment. (2019, August 9). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/ohio-and-the-19th-amendment.htm
Ohio Women’s Suffrage Amendment (September 1912). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio_Women%27s_Suffrage_Amendment_(September_1912)
Ohio Women’s Right to Vote Initiative (1914). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio_Women%27s_Right_to_Vote_Initiative_(1914):.
Ohio Women’s Right to Vote in Presidential Elections Referendum (1917). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/Ohio_Women%27s_Right_to_Vote_in_Presidential_Elections_Referendum_(1917)
Rabinovitch-Fox, E. (n.d.). Women’s Suffrage. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. https://case.edu/ech/articles/w/womens-suffrage