Virginia Minor Facts
Known for: Minor v. Happersett; founding first organization dedicated entirely to the single issue of women's voting rights
Occupation: activist, reformer
Dates: March 27, 1824 - August 14, 1894
Also known as: Virginia Louisa Minor
Virginia Minor Biography
Virginia Louisa Minor was born in Virginia in 1824. She married in 1843 and moved first to Mississippi, then the St. Louis, Missouri. She was involved in Civil War relief efforts in that city. Her only child died at age 14 in 1866.
After the war, Virginia Minor became involved in the woman suffrage movement, convinced that women needed the vote for their position in society to improve. She helped form the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri, the first organization formed entirely to support women's voting rights.
Attempting to Vote
On October 15, 1872, Virginia Minor attempted to vote, claiming that right as a citizen; the registrar refused to accept her registration because she was a married woman, and thus without civil rights independent of him.
Minor v. Happersett
Virginia Minor's husband sued the registrar, Happersett, in circuit court; because of coverture, a married woman had no legal standing on her own to file a lawsuit. They lost, then appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, and finally the case went to the Supreme Court of the United States, where it is known as the case of Minor v. Happersett, one of the landmark Supreme Court decisions.
After Minor v. Happersett
Losing that effort did not stop Virginia Minor, and other women, from working for suffrage. She continued to work in her state and nationally. She identified the clergy as one of the forces hostile to women's rights; when she died in 1894, her burial service, respecting her wishes, did not include any clergy.
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