Rhode Island
Rhode Island’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 Rhode Island in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
Rhode Island’s Suffrage Timeline
1850
After organizing a National Women’s Rights Convention in Massachusetts, Paulina Wright Davis started the country’s first women’s rights newspaper, The Una.
1868
Rowena Stewart Arnold founded the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association (RIWSA), which aligned itself with the American Woman Suffrage Association.
1887
When a suffrage bill was introduced in the state legislature, State Representative Thomas Henry threw the bill on the floor and stomped on it, yelling, “I will kill woman suffrage.” Pro-suffrage legislators introduced bills in almost every legislative session for the next twenty years, but legislators were never able to guide the bills beyond committee consideration.
1907
Sara Algeo assumed the leadership of RIWSA and created alliances with progressive groups supporting child welfare and public health reform. Rhode Island suffragists did not become more militant in protesting or parading, and worked within established channels to persuade legislators.
1917
Senator Richard Jennings introduced legislation granting women the right to vote in presidential elections. This limited suffrage acknowledged women’s contribution to the war effort and allowed them a level of electoral participation on the federal level.
Jennings’ bill easily passed both the House (71-20) and the Senate (32-3). On April 18, Governor Beeckman signed the bill, making Rhode Island the first state in New England to grant presidential suffrage to women.
January 6, 1920
Rhode Island ratified the 19th Amendment.
References
Cooney, Robert. (2005). Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement. American Graphic Press.
Elizabeth Buffum Chace. (2022, June 19). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/blrv/learn/historyculture/elizabeth-buffum-chace.htm
Faeder, E. (2021, March 13). Women’s History Month Spotlight: Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/vama/blogs/womens-history-month-spotlight-alva-vanderbilt-belmont.htm
Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis. (n.d.). National Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/paulina-kellogg-wright-davis/
Rhode Island and the 19th Amendment. (2019, September 4). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/rhode-island-women-s-history.htm
Stevens, E. (n.d.). The Struggle for Woman Suffrage in Rhode Island. EnCompass. https://encompass.rihs.org/the-struggle-for-woman-suffrage-in-rhode-island/the-struggle-for-woman-suffrage-in-rhode-island/
The Women’s Suffrage Movement. (n.d.). Tiverton Historical Society. http://www.tivertonhistorical.org/tiverton-stories/the-womens-suffrage-movement/