On February 7, 1917, the Arkansas legislature passed a bill that allowed women to vote in primary elections. This move predates by three years the passage of the 19th Amendment, which affirmed the right of U.S. citizens to vote regardless of sex. The 1917 bill, however, cannot be viewed as the beginning of a movement for women's suffrage. Rather, the movement began decades earlier after the Civil War when women's suffrage clubs emerged.
The Arkansas Women's Suffrage Centennial project is a three-year collaboration to commemorate this pivotal moment in the evolution of the American democracy. The centennial celebrates the long battle women and men fought to have women's suffrage, the right to vote in political elections, affirmed. This virtual exhibit explores the history of women's suffrage, providing explanations by scholars alongside archival materials like documents and photographs.
Through the exhibit, you can:
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- learn about the leading individuals in the women's suffrage movement in Arkansas
- Understand the roles race and social stsua played
- see how World War I contributed to societal changes
- look at how fashion reflected changing attitudes
A rich media gallery will allow you to browse digitized photographs from suffrage history, and a HistoryPin map will allow you to explore related landmarks then and now.
The exhibit is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage.