WOW Museum: Western Women's Suffrage

Click on a star or a state name for a unique story of suffrage in the American West.

Click on a name to learn more about a personality who helped secure the vote for women in the American West.
1-	Charlotta Spears Bass, California (1880-1969) Leading Los Angeles African-American journalist, politician, civil rights activist, and women's rights advocate throughout the twentieth century.
2-	Martha Hughes Cannon, Utah (1857-1932) Physician and public health advocate, who was the first woman elected to the state senate in Utah and the nation in 1896.
3-	Caroline Nichols Churchill, Colorado (1833-1926) Spirited, eccentric editor of Denver's women's rights newspaper, The Queen Bee.
4-	Minnie Fisher Cunningham, Texas (1882-1964) No-nonsense leader of the Texas suffrage movement known by supporters and enemies alike as "Minnie Fish."
5-	Emma Smith DeVoe, Washington (1848-1927) Popular suffrage organizer, lecturer, and musician who led victorious campaigns throughout the northwest.
6-	Annie Diggs, Kansas (1848-1916) Political powerhouse during the heyday of Kansas Populism.
7-	Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon (1834-1915) Journalist, lecturer, and tenacious suffrage leader in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and the nation.
8-	Elizabeth Piper Ensley, Colorado (1848-1919) Denver's leading African American suffragist, club leader, and political activist during and after Colorado's suffrage victory in 1893.
9-	May Arkwright Hutton, Washington (1860-1915) Waitress, mineowner, and one of the most flamboyant and eccentric suffrage leaders in the northwest.
10-	Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii (1838-1917) Head of state who fiercely defended the sovereignty of her own nation and people.
11-	Esther Hobart Morris, Wyoming (1814-1902) First female justice of the peace in South Pass City, Wyoming, the nation, and the world.
12-	Emma Aima Nawahi, Hawaii (1854-1935) Editor of Ke Aloha Aina (The Patriot), and defender of Hawaiian sovereignty, culture, history, and political rights for women.
13-	Jeannette Rankin, Montana (1880-1973) First woman elected to the U.S. Congress, and the nation's most celebrated female pacifist.
14-	Nellie Davis Tayloe Ross, Wyoming (1876-1977) The nation's first woman governor in the first state where women could vote.
15-	Nina Otero-Warren, New Mexico (1881-1965) Twentieth-century Santa Fe suffragist, educator, and businesswoman.
16-	Emmeline Blanche Woodward Wells, Utah (1828-1921) Mormon editor of a leading western women's rights newspaper, the Woman's Exponent.
17-	Maud Younger, California (1870-1936) San Francisco's "millionaire waitress" who organized labor unions and the victorious 1911 California suffrage campaign.