From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This timeline provides an overview of the political movement for women's suffrage in California. Women's suffrage became legal with the passage of
Proposition 4 in 1911
yet not all women were enfranchised as a result of this legislation.
1860s
[
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]
1868:
1869:
1870s
[
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]
Ellen Van Valkenburg filed this brief in Santa Cruz after being denied the right to vote
1871:
1880s
[
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1884:
1886:
- Irish Catholic suffragist
Kate Kennedy
ran for office in the 1886 election in the city of San Francisco.
[6]
1890s
[
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1890:
Sarah M. Severance
1893:
- The California legislature passed a bill extending suffrage to women. However, this was not a bill granting suffrage entirely to women; it was only for voting in school elections, not municipal elections. This bill was vetoed by Governor
Henry Markham
.
[8]
1894:
- As a result of political pressure the
California Republican Party
endorsed women's suffrage.
[9]
- Both Laura de Force Gordon and
Nellie Holbrook Blinn
believed they each should be the president of the California State Woman Suffrage and Educational Association.
[6]
This led to a political dispute with Gordon stating Blinn's side were acting as "kindergartners".
[6]
- Republican Party speaker
Nellie Blinn
became president of the state association and with
Clara Foltz
and others successfully lobbied the Republican Party to add the following to their state platform, "taxation without representation is against the principles of the government. We favor an extension of the right of suffrage to all citizens of the United States, both men and women."
[7]
1895:
- Mary Wood Swift
became second Vice President for the California Suffrage Association and hosted parlor discussions.
[6]
- Naomi Anderson
moved to California to organize suffragists after lecturing about temperance and suffrage through the midwest.
[10]
She also lobbied the California legislature.
[11]
- Susan B. Anthony
campaigned for suffrage in California.
[12]
[13]
[14]
Leading up to the 1896 vote, Anthony encouraged California suffragists to be "all partisan" by avoiding partisan politics until women were enfranchised.
[9]
- Nellie Holbrook Blinn
spoke in support of suffrage to the California legislature.
[6]
1896:
- African American Sacramento suffragist
Naomi Anderson
drew large crowds with her speeches on women's suffrage. She was described as a "wonderful orator" by suffragist
Mary Keith
.
[9]
- Ellen Sargent
supervised a petition drive on behalf of women's suffrage in northern California and
Alice Moore McComas
oversaw the petitions in southern California.
[7]
- The first ballot measure to propose women's suffrage failed with only 44.6% support
[6]
[9]
- The founding of the
Woman's Club of Palo Alto
.
[15]
Lillian Harris Coffin
1899:
1900s
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1900:
1902:
1903:
1905:
1906:
- Katherine Reed Ballentine
founded the Yellow Ribbon, a statewide newspaper which covered the suffrage movement.
[20]
- Alice Park began her work as head of the literature committee of the CESA, carefully preserving many of the documents related to the suffrage movement in California.
[21]
In the 1930s she donated many of her papers to the
Huntington Library
in San Marino which houses a significant women's suffrage collection. Park also collected a large number of votes for women buttons (see image on the right).
Collection of "votes for women" buttons made by Mrs. Alice Park of Palo Alto
1907:
1908:
- Led by
Mary McHenry Keith
, the leader of the
Berkeley Political Equality League
, women in Oakland make a public statement protesting their lack of voting rights. Keith proposed adding the following statement to a cornerstone of the newly created
Berkeley City Hall
stating, "
“We…hereby commit the cause of Equal Suffrage for man and woman to the judgment of future generations, in the confidence that in after years whoever shall read these lines will wonder that so late as the year 1908 the women of California were political serfs; they were taxed without representation, governed without their consent, and classed under the law with idiots, insane persons, criminals, minors and other defective classes…We, about to die, greet you, the inheritors of a better age, men and women of the future Berkeley, equal before the law, enfranchised citizen; co-operating in all public service.”
[23]
- Over 300 women marched on behalf of suffrage in Oakland behind a silk banner which featured the seal of California.
[24]
[25]
1909:
- Lillian Harris Coffin
received press attention for lobbying in Sacramento on behalf of the women suffrage bill.
[26]
- Maud Younger
founded the Wage Earner's Equal Suffrage League in 1909.
[3]
She played a key role in California's passage of an eight hour work day.
[27]
- Ruth Wilson served as a leader of California's anti-suffrage association. Wilson was the mother of General George S. Patton.
[3]
Maud Younger was known for her ability to get publicity for the suffrage cause
1910s
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]
1910:
- Under the leadership of
Charlotte Anita Whitney
, the
College Equal Suffrage League
became the most prominent suffrage organization in the
San Francisco Bay Area
[28]
- Suffragists were successful in lobbying the Republican Party of California to include support for suffrage in their platform. The Democratic Party of California did not include an endorsement for suffrage in their platform that year.
[29]
- Selina Solomons
founded the Votes for Women club in San Francisco. This club encouraged working class women to join the suffrage movement.
[30]
1911:
- In May 1911,
Kate Brousseau
was elected to the board of directors for the CESL while also leading the literature committee
[31]
- After receiving intense lobbying from members of the CESL, Phoebe Hearst announced she was a suffragist in the summer of 1911. That year she wrote to
Caroline Severance
saying, "I share your feeling about the benefit our State will receive through the right of its women to the ballot...I am a suffragist."
[28]
- Los Angeles clubwoman
Maria de Lopez
translated suffrage campaign materials into Spanish.
[6]
[32]
- Proposition 4
passed granting women suffrage.
- Berkeley was the only major city in the San Francisco Bay Area where a majority voted for suffrage.
[23]
- A majority of Chinese voters supported suffrage on the day of the election.
[32]
- In October,
Jennie Mary Chamberlain
became the first woman to register to vote in Alameda County.
[8]
- Many suffragists remained politically active through the new California Civic League.
[33]
- When proposition 4 was passed,
Alice Stone Blackwell
stated California was, "the greatest single advance that the suffrage movement in America has yet made."
[6]
1912:
- Ty Leung
was the first Chinese-American woman to vote.
[34]
- Selina Solomons
published "How We Won the Vote in California" which provides a detailed account of the California suffrage movement.
[29]
Marie L. Baldwin
1913:
- Winning Equal Suffrage in California: Reports of Committees of the College Equal Suffrage League of Northern California
[35]
1914:
1916:
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Helton, Jennifer.
"Women Suffrage in the West"
. Retrieved
July 26,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Silver, Mae (2000).
The Sixth Star: Images and Memorabilia of California Women's Political History 1868-1915
. Ord Street Press.
- ^
a
b
c
"Progressive Era: 1890?1920s: Women Suffrage | Picture This"
.
picturethis.museumca.org
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
"Georgiana Bruce Kirby Historical Marker"
.
www.hmdb.org
. Retrieved
2023-03-10
.
- ^
"Women Get the Right to Vote"
.
California Secretary of State, California Archives
. Retrieved
July 25,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
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k
Gullett, Gayle (2000).
Becoming Citizens: The Emergence and Development of the California Women's Movement, 1880-1911
. University of Illinois Press.
ISBN
0-252-06818-1
.
- ^
a
b
c
Cooper, Donald (Winter 1989). "The California Suffrage Campaign of 1896: Its Origin, Strategies, Defeat".
Southern California Quarterly
.
71
(4): 311?325.
doi
:
10.2307/41171453
.
JSTOR
41171453
.
- ^
a
b
"Days Gone By: Women granted suffrage waste no time registering to vote"
.
The Mercury News
. 2011-11-04
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Mead, Rebecca J. (2004).
How the Vote Was Won: Woman suffrage in the western United States 1868-1914
. New York University Press.
ISBN
0-8147-5722-7
.
- ^
Swatt, Steve; Swatt, Susie; Lavally, Rebecca (2019).
Paving the Way: Women's Struggle for Political Equality in California
. Berkeley Public Policy Press.
- ^
Cooney, Jr., Robert P.J. (2005).
Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement
. National Women's History Project.
ISBN
0-9770095-0-5
.
- ^
"Timeline of the Life of Susan B. Anthony"
.
Library of Congress
. Retrieved
July 26,
2019
.
- ^
"San Francisco Call 20 May 1895 ? California Digital Newspaper Collection"
.
cdnc.ucr.edu
. Retrieved
2021-12-15
.
- ^
Humanities, National Endowment for the (1895-05-21).
"The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, May 21, 1895, Image 4"
. p. 4.
ISSN
1941-0719
. Retrieved
2021-12-15
.
- ^
Feuer, Margaret (April 12, 2013).
"The Palo Alto Woman's Club"
.
Past Heritage
. Retrieved
2020-09-26
.
- ^
"
"For the Advancement of Women:" The Women's Club Movement in Oakland"
. Retrieved
July 26,
2019
.
- ^
"Progressive Era: 1890?1920s: Women Suffrage | Picture This"
.
picturethis.museumca.org
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
"California Women Who Would Vote Hold Convention"
.
The San Francisco Call
. November 19, 1903
. Retrieved
July 26,
2019
.
- ^
Wilson, Ann Marie; Cherny, Robert; Irwin, Mary Ann (2011).
California Women and Politics: From the Gold Rush to the Great Depression
. University of Nebraska Press.
ISBN
978-0-8032-3503-8
.
- ^
"Woman's Suffrage Activist Had Roots in Alpine's History"
(PDF)
.
The Alpine Sun Shopper
. November 7, 2013.
- ^
Sherry, Katz (2008). "
"Researching Around Our Subjects": Excavating Radical Women".
Journal of Women's History
.
20
.
ProQuest
203249855
.
- ^
"Los Angeles Women Honored at Oakland"
.
Los Angeles Herald
. October 6, 1907.
- ^
a
b
Finacom, Steven (March 1, 2011).
"Centennial of Women's Vote in California is 2011: Berkeley Celebrations Planned"
.
The Berkeley Daily Planet
. Retrieved
July 25,
2019
.
- ^
"California Woman Suffrage 1870-1911 | International Museum of Women"
.
exhibitions.globalfundforwomen.org
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
"Tactics and Techniques of the National Woman's Party Suffrage Campaign"
(PDF)
.
American Memory, Library of Congress
. Retrieved
August 5,
2019
.
- ^
"Women's Lobby Arrives"
.
Los Angeles Herald
. January 6, 1909
. Retrieved
July 25,
2019
.
- ^
"Maud Younger (1870 ? 1936) | Turning Point Suffragist Memorial"
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
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b
Nickliss, Alexandra M. (2018).
Phoebe Apperson Hearst: A Life of Power and Politics
. University of Nebraska Press.
- ^
a
b
Solomons, Selina (1912).
How we won the vote in California : a true story of the campaign of 1911
. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco, Cal. : The New Woman Publishing Co.
- ^
"Selina Solomons | Jewish Immigrants in San Francisco | American Jerusalem"
.
www.americanjerusalem.com
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
Raab, Eleanor.
"Biographical Sketch of Kate Brousseau"
.
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. Retrieved
2019-08-07
.
- ^
a
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Helton, Jennifer.
"Women Suffrage in the West"
.
National Park Service
. Retrieved
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2019
.
- ^
Marino, Kelly. "Votes for College Women: Women's Suffrage and Higher Education in Modern America".
Dissertation at Binghamton University State University of New York
: 54.
- ^
"California Woman Suffrage 1870-1911 | International Museum of Women"
.
exhibitions.globalfundforwomen.org
. Retrieved
2019-08-05
.
- ^
College Equal Suffrage League of Northern California (1913).
Winning Equal Suffrage in California: Reports of Committees of the College ...
Harvard University. National College EqualSuffrage League.
- ^
"Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin"
. April 18, 2019
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Medina, Anna (June 11, 2016).
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.
PaloAltoOnline.com
. Retrieved
2020-09-26
.
Women's suffrage in California
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Organizations
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Activists
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Historians of the movement
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