West Virginia
West Virginia’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 West Virginia in the timeline below, or download the timeline as a printable PDF.
West Virginia’s Suffrage Timeline
1867
State Senator Samuel Young introduced suffrage legislation removing the word male from voting requirements. The bill was not brought to a vote.
1869
Young reintroduced the bill, and this time the legislature rejected the bill.
1895
The West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association (WVESA) was founded. WVESA coordinated suffrage activities across the state and organized lobbying and coordination efforts with national suffrage organizations.
1906
Dr. Anna Howard Shaw was elected WVESA president. Shaw testified before the West Virginia Legislature in 1907 and served as National American Woman Suffrage Association President for 11 years. Shaw also chaired the Woman’s Committee of the United States Council of Defense during WWI, to coordinate female participation in the war.
1913
The House of Delegates passed a state constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote; however the Senate did not pass the bill by the necessary two-thirds vote.
1915
The House of Delegates and Senate passed the bill in 1915, which then required approval by a majority of the electorate in the 1916 election.
1916
The West Virginia Association of Women Opposed to Suffrage (WVAWOS) campaigned against the amendment. In local newspapers, WVAWOS argued that equal suffrage was radical, experimental, and lacked evidence of benefits in states that had adopted suffrage.
Despite WVESA’s efforts, the amendment failed with 63,540 votes (28) in favor and 161,607 votes (71%) in opposition. Suffragists largely blamed this failure on liquor and business interests, but WVAWOS’ opposition also played a significant role.
1920
Governor John Jacob Cornwell called a special legislative session to address several issues, including ratification of the 19th Amendment. After the amendment passed the House of Delegates, the Senate vote appeared tied until Senator Jesse Bloch, who had been in California for vacation, returned to cast his vote and end the stalemate.
March 10, 1920
West Virginia ratified the 19th Amendment, the 34th state to do so.*
* Jim Crow laws were enforced in West Virginia until passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and Black women were not able to vote post-1920.
References
Anna Howard Shaw. (n.d.). National Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/anna-howard-shaw/
Dr. Harriet B. Jones. (n.d.). WVU Libraries: Women’s Suffrage in West Virginia. https://wvsuffrage.lib.wvu.edu/home/s/WV-womens-suffrage/item/775
Effland, Anne B. W. “Women’s Suffrage.” e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 09 December 2015. https://wvenc-f5.wvnet.edu/articles/1330.
Effland, Anne B. W. “Women’s Suffrage.” e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 16 February 2024. https://wvencyclopedia.org/entries/1282
Fighting the Long Fight: West Virginia Women and the Right to Vote. (n.d.). West Virginia Archives and History. https://archive.wvculture.org/history/exhibitsonline/suffrage/suffrage2.html
Lenna Lowe Yost. (n.d.). WVU Libraries: Women’s Suffrage in West Virginia. https://wvsuffrage.lib.wvu.edu/home/s/WV-womens-suffrage/item/692
Women’s Suffrage in West Virginia. (n.d.). WVU Libraries Powered by Omeka. https://omekas.lib.wvu.edu/home/s/WV-womens-suffrage/page/welcome
West Virginia and the 19th Amendment. (2019, August 22). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/west-virginia-women-s-history.htm.
West Virginia’s Suffrage Movement. (n.d.). WV Culture. https://archive.wvculture.org/history/archives/women/suffrage.html
West Virginia Women’s Suffrage Amendment (1916). (n.d.). Ballotpedia. https://ballotpedia.org/West_Virginia_Women%27s_Suffrage_Amendment_(1916)