Colorado Experience: Suffrage

Summary

In "Colorado Experience: Suffrage" by Rocky Mountain PBS, the documentary explores Colorado's pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States. Colorado was a trailblazer, becoming the first state to grant women's suffrage through a public vote in 1893. This documentary details the challenges, key figures, and societal changes that propelled the suffrage movement in Colorado. The success in Colorado set a precedent and inspired further suffrage movements nationwide, eventually leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The documentary celebrates the legacy of Colorado's suffrage pioneers and highlights the ongoing progress and challenges in achieving gender equality in political representation.

Highlights

• Colorado set a milestone as the first state to pass suffrage by a single-issue popular vote in 1893 🎉.
• Efforts of women activists and changing political climates significantly contributed to the success of the suffrage movement in Colorado 🔄.
• The suffrage movement faced opposition but managed to build a coalition across various segments, including unions and religious groups 💪.
• Advocates like Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt were pivotal, although local leaders ultimately drove the campaign to success 🚀.
• The legacy of early suffragists continues to influence Colorado's strong female political representation today 🔥.

Key Takeaways

• Colorado was the first state to grant women's suffrage through a public vote in 1893 🏆.
• Pioneering figures like Ellis Meredith and Alina Wasburn led key efforts towards women's voting rights in Colorado 👩‍⚖️.
• The suffrage movement in Colorado included diverse groups and had broad support, leading to successful advocacy efforts 🌍.
• Despite setbacks, persistence led to Colorado women gaining voting rights 27 years before the 19th Amendment 📜.
• Today, Colorado remains a leader in female political representation, boasting the highest percentage of women in any state legislature 💪.

Overview

In the late 19th century, Colorado emerged as a leader in the American suffrage movement by granting women the right to vote through a public ballot. This groundbreaking decision came after years of tireless campaigning by dedicated activists and groups who navigated a politically charged environment. The movement in Colorado was driven by the suffragists' passion and commitment, leading to a lasting impact on the state's political landscape.

Prominent figures such as Alina Wasburn, Ellis Meredith, and many others were instrumental in advocating for women's rights, paving the way for future generations of female leaders. Colorado's suffrage movement faced numerous challenges and resistance, yet it successfully united a wide array of supporters, including labor unions and diverse communities, to champion the cause of gender equality.

The passage of suffrage in Colorado was a pivotal moment that set an example for other states and eventually influenced the national movement leading to the 19th Amendment. Today, Colorado's legacy continues, as it boasts the highest percentage of women serving in state legislature in the USA, showcasing the enduring impact of the suffrage movement on the state's commitment to equality and diversity in governance.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Early Suffrage in Colorado The chapter introduces the history of women's suffrage in Colorado, highlighting that it was the first state to pass women’s suffrage by popular vote. This occurred after Utah and Wyoming, which were still territories at the time, had incorporated suffrage into law. The chapter is presented by John Fua, who points out that Colorado today has the highest percentage of women in its state legislature and emphasizes the legacy and importance of this historical achievement.
• 03:30 - 05:30: Suffrage Movement Begins in America The chapter discusses the beginnings of the suffrage movement in America, highlighting Colorado's significant role. At a time when half of the U.S. population, specifically women, did not have the right to vote, Colorado emerged as a leader in the suffrage movement. It was the first state to grant women the right to vote through a public vote. The chapter highlights how this pivotal event was supported by the History Colorado State Historical Fund.
• 08:30 - 13:30: Failed Suffrage Efforts in Colorado (1860-1870s) The chapter titled 'Failed Suffrage Efforts in Colorado (1860-1870s)' discusses efforts to promote women's suffrage in Colorado during the 1860s and 1870s. Despite these efforts, suffrage movements faced significant challenges, ultimately failing to achieve voting rights for women during this period. The transcript includes acknowledgments to supporting organizations like the Denver Public Library and the History Colorado State Historical Fund for their contributions to preserving and interpreting Colorado's historical heritage.
• 15:00 - 23:30: Successful Suffrage Campaign in Colorado (1890s) Colorado, known for its willingness to take risks in the political sphere, embarked on a bold journey in the 1890s which led to the successful adoption of women's suffrage. While such ventures are sometimes fraught with failure, Colorado's effort in this realm became one of its greatest achievements.
• 23:30 - 29:00: Impact and Legacy of Women's Suffrage in Colorado The chapter discusses Colorado's pioneering role in women's suffrage, highlighting its willingness to experiment with progressive policies like marijuana legalization. While Wyoming and Utah territories were the first to grant women voting rights, Colorado became the first state to achieve women's equality through a single-issue vote. This legacy endures today as Colorado boasts the highest percentage of women in any state legislature. The history of women in the western United States is also briefly mentioned.
• 29:00 - 34:30: Modern Reflections on Suffrage and Ongoing Challenges The chapter titled 'Modern Reflections on Suffrage and Ongoing Challenges' highlights the involvement of indigenous women in early American trade, specifically the fur trade, demonstrating their pivotal roles in diplomacy and business. It touches upon the diverse backgrounds of settlers, including those from Germany, Italy, and Mexico, indicating the multicultural aspects of the historical settlement process and how these dynamics contributed to the foundation of the society. The context implies ongoing challenges in recognizing and integrating these diverse historical contributions into modern narratives of suffrage and societal roles.

Colorado Experience: Suffrage Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] there was a time when half the population couldn't vote Colorado was the first state of the nation to pass suffrage by a single-issue popular vote following Utah and Wyoming which were territories when they wrote suffrage into law hi I'm John fua today Colorado boasts the highest percentage of women elected to any state legislature the story of how we came to pass suffrage in our state is a proud Legacy that many simply don't know
• 00:30 - 01:00 and now Colorado experience suffrage there was a time when half the population of the United States did not have the right to vote for the history of women's sufferage Colorado's at the center Colorado really led the way nationally to make sure that women had the right to vote Colorado ultimately was the first state that granted suffrage to women through a public vote this program was funded by the history Colorado State historical fund
• 01:00 - 01:30 supporting projects throughout the state to preserve protect and interpret Colorado's architectural and archaeological Treasures history Colorado State Historical fund create the future honor the past with support from the Denver Public Library history Colorado with additional funding and support from these fine organizations and viewers like you thank you [Music]
• 01:30 - 02:00 Colorado is a state of early adopters we are willing to take some risks in our political sphere in order to try new things and they don't always work but they very often do women's suffrage was of course one of our greatest successes
• 02:00 - 02:30 but everything up to legalization of marijuana shows that we're willing to experiment although the Wyoming and Utah territories allowed women the right to vote first Colorado became the first state to grant women equality with a single issue vote this proud Legacy continues today as Colorado currently has the highest percentage of women in any state legislature the history of women in the west goes back a very far away there
• 02:30 - 03:00 were plenty of women here before the white settlers arrived Indian women who were crucial figures in the fur trade in many cases the diplomacy between the European fur Traders uh hinged on the relationships of Indian women to their families and relatives and their marriage with the fur Trappers we had people settling here from Germany Italy Mexico people coming to this area for a new opportunity it doesn't work to say
• 03:00 - 03:30 women are too frail to do anything that involves serious effort and labor there's too much to do hurting cattle they branded the cows building log cabins fences killing rattlesnakes teach the children putting up and taking down laundry on a windy Prairie day they grew the crops they had to do everything that women were expected to do and many of the men's jobs at the same time the pioneering Spirit of the women who came forward to get us suffrage in this state continues gener Generations
• 03:30 - 04:00 after that suffrage is originally a Latin word that means to vote or to support there was people who were in favor of women having the right to vote opponents of suffrage diminished those Advocates by calling them suffragettes which kind of made them sound like they were minor and not really capable of making decisions the women themselves who advocated for suffrage called themselves suffragists in order to say we have equal power with the rest of the citizenry of the United States the suffrage movement actually started you
• 04:00 - 04:30 might say at the very beginning of the American Revolution as early as 1848 a group of feminists both men and women met in a convention in senica Falls New York to write up what they called a declaration of sentiments it was very strongly based on the wording of the Declaration of Independence the convention split initially over whether or not to include a demand for voting rights for women of all people it was Frederick Douglas the great abolitionist Who convinced the whole hold outs that
• 04:30 - 05:00 it was very important for women to receive the right to vote the 15th Amendment which granted voting rights to African-American men was ratified in 1870 for two generations before women's suffrage African-American men had achieved the right to vote whether or not that right was recognized in the South or even in the north was something of an issue 1861 is when Colorado became a territory of the United States there were some women who lobbied it even at
• 05:00 - 05:30 that early stage in the 1860s to follow the example of Wyoming they're a territory their women can vote why can't we in 1865 when Colorado First attempted to become a state the organizers of the election placed a pleite over whether or not to extend voting rights to African-Americans on the same ballot as the Constitution and although voters overwhelmingly approved the Constitution they overwhelmingly denied voting rights to black men and as a result of that Congress turn call ad's
• 05:30 - 06:00 petition down in 1865 one of the main leaders was a woman from Northern Colorado named Alina wasburn she was a school teacher in Loveland Colorado and as early as 1872 she had convinced an election judge to allow her to vote it was not strictly legal for women to vote but Alina wasburn went to her local polling place in 1872 armed with a copy of Webster's Dictionary and when the election judge said that she wasn't allowed to vote because she wasn't a citizen she looked up citizen in the dictionary and there
• 06:00 - 06:30 was no reference to gender and based on that dictionary definition the judge allowed Alina to cast a ballot in the election of 1872 the issue did come up in 1876 whether Colorado would have in its Constitution a provision for women suffrage and there were Advocates and they had formed recent organizations to push for that and it was after all the 100th anniversary of the nation the territorial governor governor route his wife Eliza route and her sister were the
• 06:30 - 07:00 leading instigators of the Colorado women suffrage association in 1876 their goal was to introduce the idea of women's right to vote into the Constitutional Convention as it turned out there were only two or maybe three votes in favor of that and it was thrown out pretty much unanimously in 1876 political leaders made sure that the referendum over women's voting rights took place after Colorado had been
• 07:00 - 07:30 admitted as a state a consolation prize in the Constitution was a provision that at some point in the future the issue of women's right to vote would be presented to the voters of Colorado as a referendum and so that leads to this 1877 effort Susan B Anthony a nationally recognized East Coast feminist was widely known for promoting women's suffrage across the country the very first thing that this women suff Association did was to invite Susan B
• 07:30 - 08:00 Anthony to come to Colorado and stump the state and convince all the male voters to pass this referendum well she' never been out here in Southern Colorado the easterners are out of their element in the company of largely Mexican-American audiences there were a few trains available that she could ride on at least to come into Colorado but when it came time to go to the small mining towns that were harder to reach she had to ride in a stage coach she found when she went to these towns which
• 08:00 - 08:30 were filled with male miners the only place that really men would come listen to Susan DeAnthony would be in a saloon so she tried to speak in saloons and got a lot of cat calls and maybe things thrown at her sometimes by the end of the trip she vowed that she would never come back that this was a big waste of time that Colorado men are so backward that this really will never pass in 1877 a number of local coloradans jumped into the freay on the
• 08:30 - 09:00 side of of the suffragist Henry pH Bramwell the Constitutional delegate certainly spoke forcefully as well as his wife Henrietta Bramwell who was also a very vocal advocate of suff some historians have argued that it's kind of a reform fatigue moment in the United States that the post Civil War reconstruction the effort to not only rebuild the South where African-American people as freed slaves as residents of this nation would have a better chance took a lot of time and energy en let's
• 09:00 - 09:30 just take a rest from reform the Catholic leaders were especially outspoken against women's suffrage in the 1877 campaign they were just no no no no they preached sermons from the pulpit and said don't vote for this Bishop Joseph P match buff was a major opponent of suffrage in the 1870s he would deliver sermons and even editorials against women's suffrage where he said that the only women who wanted suffrage were dried up old spinsters who couldn't find their own husb husbands that if God had wanted to
• 09:30 - 10:00 create a companion for man who shared the same roles and responsibilities he would have created another man he would have to paraphrase created Adam and Steve instead of Adam and Eve Susan B Anthony came away very discouraged after touring Southern Colorado she said this state is is too barbaric it's not ready and in fact the election of 1877 saw women's suffrage go down in defeat only one County Boulder County voted to approve Pro women's suffrage every other
• 10:00 - 10:30 County in Colorado voted it down they realized after they lost the referendum that they had not done their homework they hadn't done enough work to build this network and most of all they didn't do enough work among the women themselves if women didn't embrace the idea they couldn't twist their husband's arm or make sure he was sober when he went to the polls the years between 1877 and 1893 were the silver boom years for Colorado
• 10:30 - 11:00 and in that flush of economic Good Times the issue of women's suffrage kind of took a back burner to Prosperity there's a Denver working class smelting railroading textiles all sorts of things are going on so that there is a self-conscious working class and many of them organized in labor movements like Knights of Columbus there's an expansion of farming on the plains it wasn't until the 1890s the Colorado reformers began to reorganize for another push for women's suffrage there were a lot of factors that led up to a new campaign in
• 11:00 - 11:30 the 1890s but probably the most important one was the national Panic of 1893 this this Nationwide depression the severest depression in American history up to that point for Colorado silver miners the big stinging point was the claps and silver prices which put tens of thousands of miners out of work and suddenly whole families were endangered there's tremendous financial trouble and people are losing jobs and Families they in a bad situation and one
• 11:30 - 12:00 option is for some courageous well-spoken people to come forward and say this is not the time to divide this is the time to unite the rise of the populist party the so-called People's Party coming out of the farming communities of the Midwest and the Great Plains Farmers felt that they were the first ones to lose in the Panic of 1893 and they felt that their opportunities had been restrained by big Capital by Banks by large railroads the populist
• 12:00 - 12:30 party ran on the slogan equal rights for all special privileges for none and that was a message that really resonated with the women's suffrage movement the national significance is unmistakable because in the national movement for suffrage there had been a track that was hard to miss of a middle class or upper class quality of the movement that it was Elite and Elite is not always so
• 12:30 - 13:00 great if you're going to need people to go out and vote populists believe in the free coinage of silver flooding the money supply was silver which would of course reopen the mines and put all of these miners back to work so coloradans were very Pro populist and if one of the populist leading platforms was free silver coinage another one was women's suffrage and so these two ideas became Linked In the minds of Colorado voters when you're really in those pioneering firsts there's a different kind of Courage it takes to go forward to really
• 13:00 - 13:30 Buck all the social norms and to not have a Playbook and be willing to write it as you go Carrie Chapman cat was a national suffrage leader that came in 1893 at the point when the referendum was on the ballot it was the only thing on the ballot in 1893 and the women had several months there between when it was placed on the ballot and when it would be voted on to organize this Statewide campaign she was a brand new organ organizer and she kind of cut her teeth
• 13:30 - 14:00 here and she proved to be a very effective organizer she had a really loud voice she didn't mind going to the mining towns and screaming at the top of her lungs the suffrage leaders in Colorado were so excited about her that they called her better than silver or gold the funny thing about the campaign of 1893 and and the same held true for 1877 is that everybody who was going to vote on this was a man so there was a lot of Education that had to take place women had to persuade men to vote to
• 14:00 - 14:30 recognize their rights it was time for a radical political change allowing women the right to vote was a major kind of Reform it wasn't that women couldn't do any worse but perhaps by allowing women a political say we could all do a lot better female journalists took a big leading role in the education of male voters women like Ellis Meredith and Carolyn chural people who who made their living as writers they had a captive audience of male newspapers readers and so they became the leading persuaders
• 14:30 - 15:00 the Educators who put the issues before men and convinced them that voting for women's suffrage did not take anything away from men it didn't dilute their vote Ellis Meredith who was an editor at the Rocky Mountain news had her own column called the Woman's World you would have the latest fashion news or the latest decorating tips but also she was very Savvy and included a lot of articles about women and politics she would do historical pieces like Queen
• 15:00 - 15:30 Elizabeth or Queen Victoria or Cleopatra and she'd write this long story about how a woman ran this Empire and then at the end now isn't it interesting that here in the United States women can't even vote I have come to call her the Susan B Anthony of Colorado she's the one that really put together the organizational strategy the networking Outreach plan the men in the profession of Journalism knew her and knew enough
• 15:30 - 16:00 not to dismiss her and in fact to give her outlets and opportunities Susan banthony on the other hand really was not enthused about this new suffrage campaign in 1893 there were letters written back and forth between Ellis Meredith in which Susan be Anthony said my dear I think that the timing isn't quite right for you besides the men of Colorado are too backward and Ellis Meredith would write letters back saying no it's the perfect time because there's a economic depression people people are disgruntled they are the most outspoken
• 16:00 - 16:30 advocates for women's right to vote the cries going out let the women vote they can't do any worse than the men have Carolyn Nichols Churchill was a school teacher from the East who moved to Colorado in 1879 one of the many many immigrants to Colorado who came to cure respiratory problems she was the editor and owner writer a onew woman show if you will of the first woman's newspaper in Colorado called called the colorado
• 16:30 - 17:00 Antelope which she started in 1879 she said that no other creature could outpace the antelope on the planes but she soon changed the name of the paper to the queen bee and as both the antalope and the bee Carolyn Churchill's newspaper was the leading advocate for women's suffrage in Colorado in the media in article after article after article she pressed the issue of women's suffrage on her readers and argued eloquently why women needed the right to vote and all the reasons why women are
• 17:00 - 17:30 better at running things men are lazy women will be much more industrious women have a better idea of what's needed in our cities in our schools and it was not controlled by a male editor like the Rocky Mountain news Ellis Meredith could only write certain things if the editor Thomas Patterson approved which often he did people didn't always see eye to eye with her ideas she would say things like well I organized a much better campaign than Susan B Anthony ever will and you could not scare her or
• 17:30 - 18:00 frighten her you couldn't always work with her either so as the movement comes together towards the 1893 campaign she is losing friends within the movement Minnie Reynolds was another reporter for the Rocky Mountain news but Minnie was the society editor in 1893 she utilized that role as a way to get the more well-to-do women on the campaign side if they didn't want to go door too or pass out flyers or things like that they
• 18:00 - 18:30 could give money she became the chair of the press Committee of the Colorado Women's Suffrage Association and in so doing she convinced 75% of Colorado's newspapers to endorse women's suffrage she was so influential and so respected in the journalistic community that even these small communities were giving suffrage a serious look and very often recommending it she herself was a populist and so a lot of her Flyers that she wrote had to do with the depression and that women are suffering right
• 18:30 - 19:00 alongside the men she also pointed out that there were 14,000 women property owners that did not have the right to vote and so invoked that whole phrase no taxation without representation she was quite a clever campaigner and between she and Ellis Meredith they really were the brains behind the whole effort Elizabeth Ensley was an African-American woman in Denver she and her husband had moved here in 1890 they
• 19:00 - 19:30 were persuaded to come to Colorado seeing it as an opportunity to kind of start from scratch and make your way in a place that wouldn't have a lot of wellestablished prejudice not that there wasn't Prejudice here in Denver of course Elizabeth Ensley the only African-American woman on the nonpartisan Colorado suffrage association she was the treasurer who took over in 1890 when the treasury of the organization only had $25 and she went out fundraising in order to raise the money that was was necessary for the publicity in this campaign she believed
• 19:30 - 20:00 strongly that equality meant equal rights for all and she wanted to make sure that African-American women receed the same rights as everyone else while many were in support of women's suffrage there were some that did not agree with the fundamental premise and feared the change that it would invoke the opposition to women's suffrage in Colorado was was pretty weak and disorganized but it was no easy Victory and so for people who opposed women suffrage and that included both
• 20:00 - 20:30 men and women they argued that women becoming involved in politics would somehow make them lose their femininity anti-suffragists argued that women were too hysterical to make solid rational judgments that their hormones would somehow make them incapable of making the right kinds of decisions ultimately the anti-suffrage movement in 1893 was organized by the Colorado Brewers Association like Philip Zang and Adolf Kors and their main fear was that Women Voters would vote for prohibition and
• 20:30 - 21:00 they put out pamphlets and it was distributed on the eve of the election and it talked all about how we can't afford this dangerous experiment if we vote to give women the right to vote the next thing you know your wife is going to be out campaigning instead of cooking dinner for you at home we might even have women doctors and worst of all we might have women lawyers if this thing passes this is looking a lot better than the 1870s because now you have of constituencies that are organized in
• 21:00 - 21:30 labor unions in the mines as well as in the cities you have the women's Christian Temperance Union so that's what's really extraordinary to see giving an opportunity for the people engaged in women's suffrage to broaden the concept of justice justice means Justice to workers to Miners and their families to Farmers there were organizations in the Colorado Women's Suffrage Association is certainly an important one and African-American
• 21:30 - 22:00 groups as well Garden clubs Jewish women's organizations book clubs all kinds of groups like this they would discuss the idea of what reforms were needed in local government or state government the schools were not good the streets were not getting paved properly and dirt was everywhere they had a lot of people across the Spectrum supporting the effort both men and women all the political parties supported it most of
• 22:00 - 22:30 the religious leaders supported it the newspapers supported it the mining unions supported it and even the mine owners supported it this was a time of crisis in Colorado and everyone was ready to try something new by the eve of November 6th 1893 the night before the election the suffrage leaders were quite optimistic they had vocal and visible support from a lot of
• 22:30 - 23:00 male leaders in the community very little opposition but yet they weren't going to take any chances they worked night and day that whole week before the election and then when the polling took place on November 7th when the men went to go vote all these women were at the polling places Minnie Reynolds reports from one of the polling places it was a saloon and she was just saying well I was really impressed with how orderly it was and the men were really very polite and she was there talking to
• 23:00 - 23:30 them while they were in line men had read the arguments they had listened to these journalists they had listened to their wives and they went out and they voted strongly in favor of women's suffrage and as a result of that Colorado was the first state to Grant voting rights to women in a pleite the headlines in the next day's paper already reported that it won by a 2/3 majority in 1877 it lost by a 2/3 majority but in 1893 the tables were turned and almost every
• 23:30 - 24:00 single County voted majority in favor of women's suffrage rights it really was the first state that won suffrage by popular election by all male voters nobody thought this state in the wild west would be the first state to vote voting rights in for women but Colorado surprised everybody and and granted these rights to women and the results were immediate within a year Colorado voters elected three women to the state
• 24:00 - 24:30 legislature the first three women legislators were elected in 1894 and the first African-American legislator was elected in 1894 Clara cressingham and Francis clar of Denver and from Pueblo Carrie Clyde Holly these three women were the very first women in the entire country to become elected to a legislative body and by 1900 there had been 10 women who had served in the Colorado State Legislature that was
• 24:30 - 25:00 years before many women in the rest of the country could even vote all eyes were on Colorado until 1920 they would invite women from Colorado to come speak in New York and in Illinois in Pennsylvania in California because these women had experience Congress passed and the states ratified the 19th Amendment allowing women the right to vote in 1920 in time for the 1920 presidential election and ever since we have had in Colorado
• 25:00 - 25:30 more women elected to State Legislature than just about any other state in the country 42% of our legislators are women in Colorado that's more than double the national average and as a result of that we have one of the most diverse sets of perspectives in our state lawmaking body of any state in the Union we have diversity in terms of gender diversity um diversity in terms of racial
• 25:30 - 26:00 diversity we have a very strong uh group of individuals um that are part of the glbt caucus the black caucus the Latino caucus there's more and more women running for office more and more women interested in Governor attorney general Denver has never had a woman mayor and the US Congress as a whole is only 18% women at this point in time so we are woefully behind on getting representation from women in
• 26:00 - 26:30 office at the federal level we are absolutely leading the nation and we should feel very good about that but we also have an understanding that there is a lot more to do there's so many glass ceilings that have not yet been broken we have a lot more to do to make sure that there is equity in the highest positions of power in the United States going into politics isn't a safe business the legacy of women's suffrage in fuses everything that we're doing
• 26:30 - 27:00 today one of the great things about thinking about Colorado suffrage is that it shows the great trajectory of American democracy from Republican mothers in 1776 to the Declaration of Sentiments in 1848 to territories like Wyoming and Utah granting voting rights to women to Colorado as a state granting those same rights to the 19th Amendment we're finally getting to that promise that we made to ourselves way back in 1776 that all of us are equal and all of us have a
• 27:00 - 27:30 responsibility to work together to create a more perfect union [Music]