Timeline of the Women's Suffrage Movement: 1888-1902 Anti-suffrage, CESL, ICW, IWSA, Constitution, Conference, Convention, Female, NAWSA, NCCWA, NCVJ, Organization, Referendum, Religion, Remonstrance, School Elections, Supreme Court, Vote

Timeline of the Women's Suffrage Movement: 1888-1902 [The editors of Americans All Maryland ] (January 1, 1888 - December 31, 1902) Anti-suffrage, CESL, ICW, IWSA, Constitution, Conference, Convention, Female, NAWSA, NCCWA, NCVJ, Organization, Referendum, Religion, Remonstrance, School Elections, Supreme Court, Vote

The word “suffrage” means “voting as a right rather than a privilege,” and has been in the English language since the Middle Ages. Suffrages originally were prayers. Then the meaning was extended to requests for assistance, then the assistance provided by a supporting vote, and finally the vote itself. Therefore, in 1787 the Constitution used suffrage to mean “an inalienable right to vote.”

The word “suffrage” means “voting as a right rather than a privilege,” and has been in the English language since the Middle Ages. Suffrages originally were prayers. Then the meaning was extended to requests for assistance, then the assistance provided by a supporting vote, and finally the vote itself. Therefore, in 1787 the Constitution used suffrage to mean “an inalienable right to vote.”

And the right to vote was what advocates of women’s equality sought. They used suffrage in the phrase “female suffrage” or simply by itself, with the understanding that suffrage referred to voting rights for half of the adult population that had been excluded. The goal of the suffrage movement was accomplished in 1920 with the 19th Amendment to the Constitution: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged ... on account of sex.” With that, the word suffrage was also retired. Since then, campaigns to extend the vote have simply called for “voting rights.”

The numbers in [bold brackets] identify the images in the photograph collection at the bottom of the page.

1888: International Council for Women (ICW)
     ICW holds its first meeting in Washington D.C., which coincided with the establishment of the first national council, the National Committee of the United States. Founding members included Susan B. Anthony [16], May Wright Sewall [42] and Frances Willard [38], among others. Fifty-three women’s organizations from nine countries were represented at the first gathering. ICW aims to bring together women’s organizations from all countries. The goal is to promote human rights, equality, peace and women’s involvement in all spheres of life through the establishment of an international federation, or umbrella organization, of National Councils. Only one council is admitted for each country. [http://www.icw-cif.com/01/03.php]

1888: Brown v. Phillips (71 Wis 239)
     Olympia Brown [43], the most prominent early leader of the women’s rights movement in Wisconsin and one of the first female ministers in the U.S., attempted to vote in the 1887 Racine municipal election. She was turned away and sued. The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to expand women’s suffrage, reversing the Racine County Circuit Court, narrowly interpreting a state statute which gave women the right to vote only on school-related matters. In the opinion, the Court emphasized that the power to grant suffrage belonged to the Legislature. [https://www.wicourts.gov/courts/supreme/docs/famouscases10.pdf]

1889: First state to allow woman to vote
     On September 30, the Wyoming state convention approves a constitution that includes a provision granting women the right to vote. Formally admitted into the union the following year, Wyoming thus became the first state in the history of the nation to allow its female citizens to vote. [https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wyoming-legislators-write-the-first-state-constitution-to-grant-women-the-vote]

1890: National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
     On February 18, NWSA and AWSA merge and the National American Woman Suffrage Association is formed. Elizabeth Cady Stanton [4] is the first president. The Movement focuses efforts on securing suffrage at the state level. [http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/nawsa-united]

1890: Montana suffrage
     With help from Elizabeth Cady Stanton working at the state level, Wyoming granted general women's suffrage, becoming the first state to allow women to vote. [https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/life/my-montana/2014/11/09/great-falls-early-backer-womens-suffrage/18673029]

1890: The Remonstrance 
     The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women launched The Remonstrance as a digest of local, national, and international anti-suffrage news and strategic planning. [https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbcmil.scrp5011101/?st=gallery]

1890: South Dakota suffrage
     November 4, the first vote for woman suffrage loses. The two strongest opponents to woman suffrage in South Dakota are the Sioux Falls Press and the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader. [https://www.capjournal.com/news/nov-4-1890-the-first-vote-for-woman-suffrage-in-south-dakota/article_cefa2eea-c04b-11e7-b781-7f4517f71687.html]

1890: Washington State suffrage
     On March 27, Governor Elisha Peyre Ferry signs the School Suffrage Act into law. The act enfranchises women to vote in local school district elections, but not for state or county superintendents. [https://www.historylink.org/File/469]

1891: New Mexico suffrage
     New Mexico was unusual among western states in not giving women suffrage in their original constitution. Even so, as the fight for women’s suffrage swept across the nation, New Mexico and New Mexicans became an important part in finally achieving the vote. [https://libomeka.unm.edu/exhibits/show/aysp/women-suffrage-in-new-mexico]

1891: Illinois suffrage
     On June 19, Governor Joseph Wilson Fifer signed bill into law. This law was the first in Illinois that allowed women to vote in school elections. Because this legislation limited which elections women could vote in, it meant that women had to use separate ballots than men when voting. [https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/online_exhibits/100_documents/1891-women-sufferage-school-elect.html]

1891: Anti-lynching campaign
     Ida B. Wells-Barnett [44] was an African American journalist, abolitionist and feminist who led an anti-lynching crusade in the United States in the 1890s. She went on to found and become an important force in groups striving for African American justice, such as the Afro-American League (AAL) and the National Equal Rights Council (NERC). [https://www.biography.com/activist/ida-b-wells]

1893: Colorado suffrage
     On November 7, a referendum on women's suffrage, led by Carrie Chapman Catt [45], was held in Colorado that granted women the right to vote "in the same manner in all respects as male persons are."  Subsequently, Colorado became the first American state to enact women's suffrage by popular referendum. [https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/womens-suffrage-movement]

1893: National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
     After attending a meeting of the Jewish Women’s Congress at the Columbian Exposition, Hannah Greenbaum Solomon [50] founds the (NCJW). It is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action and are inspired by Jewish values. [https://www.ncjw.org/about]

1894: New York State woman suffrage
     Despite 600,000 the signatures presented to the New York State Constitutional Convention, a petition for women's suffrage is ignored in New York. The New York State constitutional convention votes 97 to 58 against woman suffrage. [https://rrlc.org/winningthevote/nys-suffrage-1893]

1894: Iowa suffrage
     Iowa women win limited suffrage in 1894. They were able to vote on ballot questions regarding bond or tax issues but not for candidates.
[https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1350&context=honors_theses]

1895: The Woman’s Bible
      This is a two-part non-fiction book, written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a committee of 26 women, published in 1895 and 1898 to challenge the traditional position of religious orthodoxy that woman should be subservient to man. The book attracted a great deal of controversy and antagonism at its introduction and is censured by the NAWSA. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman%27s_Bible]