Timeline of women's suffrage in Alaska

This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Alaska. Non-native women in Alaska had the right to vote in school board elections starting in 1904. In 1913, the first Territorial Legislature passed the Shoup Suffrage Bill which gave non-native women the right to vote in all elections. Alaska Native women had a longer road fighting for their right to vote. First, they had to be declared citizens of the United States, but even after that happened in 1924, additional barriers were put in place. These included literacy tests and segregation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped remove many barriers that Alaska Natives faced in exercising their right to vote.

"Here and in London" Alaska women's suffrage, c. 1913 published in the Tacoma Daily Ledger

20th century

edit
 
Alfred Shoup, Conrad Freeding, W.W. Shorthill watch Governor Walter E. Clark sign House Bill 2, giving white Alaska women the right to vote

1900s

edit

1904

  • Alaska women are given the right to vote in school board elections.[1][2]

1910s

edit

1912

1913

  • The Shoup Woman Suffrage bill is passed in 1913, giving women the right to vote in Alaska if they are considered United States citizens.[7][8]
  • March 21: The Shoup Suffrage bill is signed into law.[3]

1915

1920s

edit

1924

1925

1940s

edit

1943

1945

1950s

edit

1950

1959

  • The new state of Alaska has a more lenient literacy test.[14]

1960s

edit

1965

  • The Voting Rights Act (VRA) is passed which helps remove many voting barriers to Native Alaskans.[8]

1967

  • The statewide LWV is formed.[12]

1970s

edit

1970

  • Literacy tests are ended in Alaska.[14]

1975

  • The VRA is modified to provide voting information in Native languages.[15]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Harper 1922, p. 714.
  2. ^ Christen 2019, p. 90.
  3. ^ a b Harper 1922, p. 713.
  4. ^ Lapka, Alyssa (13 March 2019). "The Life of Cornelia Templeton Jewett Hatcher". Alaska Historical Society. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  5. ^ Lange, Jeva (2020-08-18). "5 important suffragists you didn't learn about in school". The Week. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  6. ^ a b Sostaric, Katarina (2015-10-12). "Alaska Native Sisterhood celebrates 100th anniversary in Wrangell". KTOO. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  7. ^ "Shoup Woman Suffrage Bill: House Bill No. 2, March 21, 1913". Alaska's Digital Archives. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Alaska and the 19th Amendment". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  9. ^ "First Territorial Legislature of Alaska". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  10. ^ "History and Culture: Citizenship Act - 1924". Northern Plains Reservation Aid. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  11. ^ Cole 1992, p. 433.
  12. ^ a b c Carney, Amy. "Alaska's Suffrage Star: Home". Alaska Libraries, Archives, Museums. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  13. ^ Cole 1992, p. 449.
  14. ^ a b Christen 2019, p. 98.
  15. ^ Tucker, Landreth & Lynch 2017, p. 336.

Sources

edit