When Washington Territory Granted Women the Vote
A rare 1884 report reflects on the early, controversial experiment of woman suffrage and the inclusion of women on juries.
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.
At the session of the Territorial Assembly in 1883, a law was enacted conferring upon women the right to vote. Although many of our citizens are disposed to question the wisdom of this law, especially when attended with the requirement that women should serve as jurors, it meets with the approval of a large majority of the people, and the women of the Territory are, for the most part, strongly desirous that the enactment be retained upon our statute books. Thus far it seems attended with no important results unfavorable to the welfare of the people of the Territory.
“Although many of our citizens are disposed to question the wisdom of this law, especially when attended with the requirement that women should serve as jurors, it meets with the approval of a large majority of the people.”
Washington was a true pioneer in suffrage, granting women the right to vote in 1883—nearly three decades before the 19th Amendment. The inclusion of women on juries, noted here with skepticism by the establishment, remains a foundational aspect of our civic duty today.
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