Mrs. Colby’s Call to the New Women of Seattle
Following the legal enfranchisement of women in Washington Territory, a public lecture urged Seattle women to embrace their new civic responsibilities as a 'co-worker with God' and a force for moral integrity.
Mrs. Colby, in her recent address 'The New Citizen,' spoke to the women of Seattle regarding their newfound political rights. She argued that enfranchisement is not merely about casting a vote, but about the broadening of intellectual faculties and the strengthening of a sense of responsibility. She urged women to be calm and temperate, to avoid falling under the sway of party dictation, and to pursue the dignity of individual liberty. She challenged them to influence the community by upholding integrity, advocating for the protection of women’s property rights, and engaging in the reform of public institutions, especially regarding the treatment of the vagrant and criminal classes.
“I see in woman's enfranchisement not the ability to do this or that particular thing by statute, but that quickening of the understanding.”
This speech reflects the complicated history of suffrage in Washington, where women gained the right to vote in 1883, only to see it challenged and later re-won. The speaker's call for women to avoid 'unworthy' political influence remains a timeless debate about civic independence.
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