This week in Alaska History: On March 21, 1913 Governor Walter E. Clark signed House Bill No. 2, giving Alaskan women the right to vote.
Women’s Suffrage In the West and East
For nearly 150 years, from the Declaration of Independence until the adoption of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920, the right to vote had been denied to most women throughout the United States.
While the national suffrage organizations were in the East, territories and states in the West were the first to grant women the right to vote. Alaska became the 10th “Suffrage Star” when it joined nine western states where women had the right to vote in 1913 —Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Arizona and Kansas.
Alaska’s Women’s Suffrage
In Alaska, woman suffrage was part of a national wave of Progressive Era reforms advanced from the turn of the century to World War I. It included prohibition of liquor, restriction of prostitution, higher wages, better working conditions and hours, and people’s direct involvement in politics through the initiative, referendum, secret ballots and recall.
Alaska House Bill No. 2
On March 10, 1913, Representative Arthur Shoup from Sitka introduced House Bill No. 2: To Extend the Elective Franchise to Women in the Territory of Alaska. Additionally, Representative Milo Kelly from Knik introduced the first petition entitled Equal Franchise for Women. Cornelia Templeton Jewett Hatcher in Knik wrote the petition and gathered signatures.
Meanwhile, Charles E. Ingersoll, a Harvard educated lawyer from Ketchikan, moved to delay action on the suffrage bill. However, other members of the House of Representatives wanted nothing to do with Ingersoll’s delaying tactics. They voted down his motion and moved the legislation forward. As Alaska’s first House of Representatives was voting to pass the woman suffrage bill (without Ingersoll voting), a telegram arrived from Francis Turner Pedersen, Ida E. Green and Ada Brownell of Seward saying they were sending a petition with 143 signatures for voting rights for women on the steamship Mariposa. The Senators voted to pass. Finally, on March 21, 1913, Governor Walter E. Clark signed the law giving Alaskan women the right to vote. Altogether, it took less than two weeks to introduce and pass House Bill No. 2.
The Merdes Law Firm has been helping injured Alaskans for more than 30 years. It’s who we are. And while we hope you never need us … We’re here if you do. ~ Ward Merdes
Info Source: AlaskaHistoricalSociety.org
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons
