Women's Suffrage In Virginia

First Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association

1870

Anna Whitehead Bodeker organized this group and served as its first president.

Equal Suffrage League of Virginia

1909

Founded by a group of women including:Kate Waller Barrett, Kate Langley Bosher, Adèle Clark, Ellen Glasgow, Nora Houston, Mary Johnston, and Lila Meade Valentine,

ESL Joins National American Woman Suffrage Organization

1910

Men, Anti-Suffragists, and the General Assembly

1912

-Lila Meade Valentine persuades a group of Richmond businessmen to form the Men's Equal Suffrage League of Virginia.
-Anti-suffragists in Virginia organize a counter organization to refute the arguments of suffragists.
-The General Assembly defeats a bill that would give women the right to vote.

"Virginia Suffrage News"

1914

-The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia begins publishing a monthly newspaper called the Virginia Suffrage News.
-The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia has forty-five local chapters.

The ESL Grows

1916

The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia has 115 local chapters.

Congress Passes the 19th Amendment

1920

Membership in the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia reaches 32,000, making it most likely the largest state association in the South.

Virginia General Assembly Says "NO"

1920

• Virginia state archivist Morgan P. Robinson registers women to vote. -The General Assembly votes not to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote. -The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia disbands. -Thirteen thousand Richmond women, 10,645 white and 2,410 black, register to vote.

Women In Virginia Government

1923

Sarah Lee Fain, of Norfolk, and Helen Timmons Henderson, of Buchanan County, become the first women elected to the General Assembly.

General Assembly Finally Says "YES"!

1952

The General Assembly ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, thirty-two years after it became law.