Women won the vote in the United States through a constitutional amendment, finally ratified in 1920. But along the road to winning the vote, states and localities gave the right to vote to women within their jurisdictions. This list documents many of those milestones in winning the vote for American women.
Also see the international suffrage timeline and the women's suffrage events timeline.
1776: New Jersey gives the vote to women owning more than $250. Later the state reconsidered and women were no longer allowed to vote. ( source)
1837: Kentucky gives some women suffrage in school elections.
1861: Kansas enters the Union; the new state gives its women the right to vote in local school elections.
1869: Wyoming territory constitution grants women the right to vote and to hold public office.
1870: Utah territory gives full suffrage to women.
1893: The male electorate in Colorado votes "yes" on woman suffrage.
1894: Some cities in Kentucky and Ohio give women the vote in school board elections. ( source)
1895: Utah amends its constitution to grant women suffrage.
1896: Idaho adopts a constitutional amendment granting suffrage to women.
1902: Kentucky repeals limited school board election voting rights for women. ( source)
1910: Washington state votes for woman suffrage.
1911: California gives women the vote.
1912: Male electorates in Michigan, Kansas, Oregon and Arizona approve state constitutional amendments for woman suffrage. Wisconsin defeats a proposed suffrage amendment.
1912: Kentucky restores limited voting rights for women in school board elections. ( source)
1920: On August 26, a constitutional amendment is adopted when Tennessee ratifies it, granting full woman suffrage in all states of the United States. ( more)
1929: Puerto Rico's legislature grants women the right to vote, pushed by the United States Congress to do so.
1971: The United States lowers the voting age for both men and women to eighteen.
- Woman Suffrage Timeline: International
Progression of state-by-state suffrage in the United States. - Women's Suffrage Events
Major events in the history of women's suffrage. - The Long Road to Suffrage
A brief outline of the suffrage movement in the United states. - August 26, 1920
A young legislator does the "right thing" and the Suffrage Amendment is ratified. - Woman Suffrage: Cast of Characters
Women involved in the struggle for woman suffrage, mostly in the United States. - Woman Suffrage Articles and Links
Information on woman suffrage on this site and around the Net. - A Case For Suffrage
- A Case Against Suffrage
- Seneca Falls Convention
Text © 1999-2009 Jone Johnson Lewis.
