Washington Celebrates Equal Suffrage
Legislators, judges, and citizens gather in Olympia to hail the territory's historic move to enfranchise women.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Before dark this evening the ringing of bells and firing of cannon proclaimed to all the people of this city and the surrounding country that it was time to prepare for the grand ratification meeting. Mrs. A. S. Duniway, Vice President of the National Woman Suffrage Association, called the meeting to order. Judge Greene stated that he was, and had been for many years, an advocate of equal suffrage. He said that many feared the enfranchisement of freedmen would have a demoralizing effect, but such had not proved the case, and he had no fears that the enfranchisement of women would change the processes of nature at all. Governor William A. Newell said this was a proud occasion for mankind, and he was proud to be the Governor of Washington Territory. Judge B. F. Dennison said he would have walked all the way from Vancouver to Olympia through the mud to attend this grand ratification. Mr. Copely, who introduced the bill in the House, said the work of reform had just commenced.
“Woman suffrage means equal compensation for equally good work well done, and don't you forget it.”
This event marked a radical, if contested, milestone in 1883 when Washington Territory granted women the vote, long before the 19th Amendment. The celebratory tone mirrors the later, hard-fought national suffrage battles, though the territory’s women would see this right stripped by the courts just four years later.
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