B. H. Roberts Political and military career How did he start his political career? Roberts became a fervent Democrat and was elected Davis County Delegate to the Utah State Constitutional Convention in 1894. What did he do in Utah? Roberts proved a vocal member of the Convention, particularly in his opposition to women's suffrage.
What did he say about women's suffrage?
What did B. H. Roberts say about women's suffrage?
During the transitional period following 1890, the LDS Church disbanded its People's Party, "and the Saints were encouraged to align themselves with the national parties." Roberts became a fervent Democrat and was elected Davis County Delegate to the Utah State Constitutional Convention in 1894. Roberts proved a vocal member of the Convention, particularly in his opposition to women's suffrage.  In 1895, Roberts was the losing Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, and Roberts believed LDS Church leaders, who were predominantly Republicans, "had unfairly influenced the election by publicly reprimanding him and fellow Democrat Moses Thatcher for running for office without express permission of the Church." The LDS Church then issued the "Political Manifesto of 1895," which forbade church officers from running for public office without the approval of the church. Both Roberts and Thatcher refused to agree to the Political Manifesto and were suspended from their ecclesiastical offices. Roberts, believing such a requirement was a basic infringement of his civil rights, capitulated just hours before a deadline of March 24, 1896, signed the manifesto, wrote a letter of apology to the First Presidency, and was reinstated. Thatcher was more stubborn: he refused to sign, was expelled from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and barely evaded excommunication. In 1898, Roberts was elected as a Democrat to the 56th Congress, but the House of Representatives refused to seat him because of his practice of polygamy. The prolonged battle that ensued to keep his seat, which was not successful, left Roberts bitter.  The governor of Utah had appointed Roberts a chaplain in the Utah National Guard; in 1917, when the United States declared war on Germany, Roberts volunteered to serve as a U.S. Army chaplain. The age limit of forty was waived--Roberts was then sixty--and Roberts became chaplain to the 145th Field Artillery, which arrived in France in September 1918 but did not see action before the Armistice was signed in November. CANNOTANSWER
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Brigham Henry Roberts (March 13, 1857 – September 27, 1933) was a historian, politician, and leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He edited the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and independently wrote the six-volume Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Roberts also wrote Studies of the Book of Mormon—published posthumously—which discussed the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record.  Roberts was denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of his practice of polygamy.

Early life

Roberts was born in Warrington, Lancashire, England, the son of Benjamin Roberts, an alcoholic blacksmith and ship plater, and Ann Everington, a seamstress. In the year of his birth both parents converted to the LDS Church. Benjamin Roberts then abandoned his family. Roberts later wrote, "My childhood was a nightmare; my boyhood a tragedy."

Assisted by the Perpetual Emigrating Fund, B. H. Roberts and a sister left England in April 1866. In Nebraska they joined a wagon train and proceeded to walk—for much of the way barefoot—to Salt Lake City, where they were met by their mother, who had preceded them. In 1867, Roberts was baptized into the LDS Church by Seth Dustin, who two years later became his stepfather. Dustin eventually deserted his family, and "after several reappearances, he finally disappeared completely." Ann Dustin was granted a divorce in 1884. Upon coming to Utah Territory, Roberts settled in Bountiful, which he always from then on considered his home.

Roberts became a miner and participated in the gambling and drinking typical of that time and place. (He was once disciplined by a Salt Lake bishop, who warned him that alcohol "would not only beat him to his knees but to his elbows and chin.") But Roberts eventually learned to read and, after a series of menial jobs, was apprenticed to a blacksmith while attending school. He then became a "voracious reader, devouring books of history, science, philosophy," especially the Book of Mormon and other Mormon religious texts. In 1878, Roberts married Sarah Louisa Smith, and in the same year he graduated first in his class from University of Deseret, the normal school precursor of the University of Utah. He and Sarah eventually had seven children.

Church service

After graduation (and the birth of his first child) Roberts was ordained a seventy in his local church branch and taught school to support his family. The LDS Church sent him on a mission to Iowa and Nebraska, "but because the cold weather was hard on his health, he was transferred to Tennessee in December of 1880." There he rose to prominence as the president of the Tennessee Conference of the Southern States Mission. 

On August 10, 1884, a mob in the small community of Cane Creek murdered two Mormon missionaries and two members of the Mormon congregation. (One of the latter had killed a member of the mob before he was in turn slain.) At some personal risk, Roberts disguised himself as a tramp and recovered the bodies of the two missionaries for their families in Utah Territory.

During a brief return to Utah, Roberts took a second wife, Celia Dibble, by whom he had eight children. From 1889 to 1894, Celia was exiled in Manassa, Colorado, to protect her husband from prosecution for unlawful cohabitation.

In December 1886, while serving as  associate editor of the Salt Lake Herald, Roberts was arrested on the charge of unlawful cohabitation. He posted bond to appear in court the next day and that night left on a mission to England.

In England, Roberts served as assistant editor of the LDS Church publication the Millennial Star and completed his first book, the much reprinted The Gospel: An Exposition of Its First Principles (1888).

Returning to Salt Lake City in 1888, as full-time editor of The Contributor, he was chosen as one of the seven presidents of the First Council of the Seventy, the third-highest governing body in the LDS Church. "Tiring of evading federal authorities," Roberts surrendered in April 1889 and pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful cohabitation. He was imprisoned in the Utah Territorial Prison for five months. Following his release, he moved his families to Colorado and married a third wife, Dr. Margaret Curtis Shipp, after church president Wilford Woodruff issued the 1890 Manifesto that prohibited solemnization of new plural marriages. (Roberts's third wife was seven years his senior and had obtained a degree in obstetrics. Roberts seemed to prefer Margaret's company, "and this created some trouble" with his other families—although Roberts continued to have children by his other wives. Roberts and Margaret had no children.) Roberts was pardoned in 1894 by U.S. President Grover Cleveland. He resigned as an editor of the Salt Lake Herald in 1896, giving his reason that the position that the paper had taken on the recent "Manifesto" was apt to place him in a false light.

Published works

 (vol 2)

See also
Mormonism and evolution
Unseated members of the United States Congress
List of members-elect of the United States House of Representatives who never took their seats
List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded

Notes

References
Madsen, Truman G. Defender of the Faith: The B. H. Roberts Story (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980.)
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Further reading

External links
John W. Welch, "Roberts, Brigham Henry," American National Biography Online, February 2000.
"Introduction" to John Sillito, ed., History's Apprentice: The Diaries of B. H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2004).
 
 
 
 B. H. Roberts collection, MSS 1430, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University.

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Women's suffrage in Florida had two distinct phases. The first women's suffrage effort in Florida was led by Ella C. Chamberlain in the early 1890s. Chamberlain began writing a women's suffrage news column, started a mixed-gender women's suffrage group and organized conventions in Florida. After Chamberlain left Florida in 1897, most women's suffrage activities ceased until around 1912. That year, the Equal Franchise League of Florida was organized in Jacksonville, Florida. Other groups soon followed, forming around the state. Whenever the Florida Legislature was in session, suffragists advocated for equal franchise amendments to the Florida Constitution. In October 1913, property-owning women in Orlando, Florida attempted unsuccessfully to vote. However, their actions raised awareness about women's suffrage in the state. In 1915, the city of Fellsmere allowed municipal women's suffrage and Zena Dreier became the first legal women voter in the South on June 19. By 1919, several cities in Florida allowed women to vote in municipal elections. Florida did not take action on the Nineteenth Amendment, and only ratified it years later on May 13, 1969.

Early efforts 
After attending the Woman's Inter-State Conference held in Fall of 1892 in Des Moines, Ella C. Chamberlain returned to Florida and created a suffrage department at the Weekly Tribune in Tampa. Her suffrage column would run until 1897. Chamberlain's speech on women's suffrage in January 1893 led to the creation of a mixed-gender women's suffrage group. She became president of the group, called the Florida Woman Suffrage Association (FWSA) and which affiliated with the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). She went to the national suffrage convention as a delegate of FWSA in 1893, becoming the first person to represent Florida at one of these conventions. Chamberlain promoted women's suffrage at the Carpenter's Union in 1894. FWSA distributed literature and raised money. In 1895, a state suffrage convention was held in Tampa. Chamberlain also attended the women's suffrage convention held in Atlanta, Georgia in 1895. Despite the efforts of FWSA, they were unable to create any new chapters around the state. Suffrage work seems to have continued until 1897 when Chamberlain left Florida and no one stepped up to take her place.

Resurgence 

After Chamberlain left, women's suffrage mainly remained dormant in Florida until around 1912. One exception was a petition to the United States Congress for a federal women's suffrage amendment that was circulated by John Schnarr of Orlando in 1907.

The next women's suffrage group was founded on June 15, 1912 in Jacksonville. Katherine Livingstone Eagan, Roselle Cooley, and thirty other women met at the home of Frances Anderson on that day to create the Equal Franchise League of Florida. The group had trouble renting space for lectures, but it did secure headquarters in the offices of the Heard National Bank. The Woman's Club would not rent out space for a suffrage meeting and the Board of Trade also rejected them so the women packed suffragists into their headquarters for lectures. There was a large amount of disapproval for women's suffrage in Florida, so the Jacksonville group used the term "equal franchise" over "women's suffrage."

In February 1913 another women's suffrage group, called the Political Equality Club was formed in Lake Helen. Soon after, an Orlando Equal Franchise League was created with Mary A. Safford as president. Safford, a Unitarian minister, came to Florida in 1911 to retire. Safford and the others started to look into forming a state-wide suffrage organization. Edith Owen Stoner of Jacksonville organized the Florida delegates in the Woman Suffrage Procession.

After April 1913, Safford and Helen Starbuck went to Tallahassee to help with suffrage work in the state legislature. The Equal Suffrage League of Jacksonville had approached the Florida Legislature on passing a women's suffrage amendment to the Florida Constitution. Lawmakers wanted to know who was in favor of women's suffrage in their districts and making a statewide group would help suffragists canvass potential supporters. While in Tallahassee, Safford spoke publicly on her support for the proposed amendment to the state constitution. Jeannette Rankin was sent by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to help campaign. The president of the Jacksonville Equal Suffrage League, Roselle C. Cooley, reported that the Florida House had decided to hear the suffragists' arguments. The speech given to the entire Legislature Committee of the Whole on April 25 was packed with spectators. All the seats were taken and people stood to listen to the four women and three men who testified. Rankin was one of the speakers. Weeks later, the legislature voted on the proposed amendment which did not pass.

In October 1913, the mayor of Orlando announced that "all freeholders" should register to vote in a bond election for the city. Because the mayor did not specify that the freeholders be male, several women, organized by Starbuck and Emma Hainer, attempted to register to vote for the bond election. The city clerk, Cassius Boone, refused to allow them to register. They were then referred to the mayor and the city attorney who decided that Florida law would not allow them to vote. The women had not actually expected to vote, but were using the action to draw attention to the fact that women were not allowed to vote for the government that enforced the taxes they paid. Overall, the discussion about taxation without representation for women in Orlando generated more favor for women's suffrage in the city.

In November 1913, the suffragists held their suffrage convention in Orlando at the same time as the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs held their meeting. Suffragists felt that they could use the support from the women's club. By the end of the suffrage meeting, they decided to form the Florida Equal Suffrage Association (FESA). Safford was voted the first president.

Safford was also involved in forming the Men's Equal Suffrage League of Florida in 1914. Mayor E. F. Sperry, who was also a Unitarian, served as president. Early in 1914, a well-attended women's suffrage speech given by Stoner led to interest in forming a women's suffrage group in Pensacola. Stoner's speech may have been the first women's suffrage speech made in the city, according to the Pensacola News Journal. Women in the city wrote to the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to help them organize a group. Lavinia Engle came to the city in March 1914. Engle was from the South, which meant that she could better connect with people in Florida. Engle went on to help organize the Milton Equal Suffrage League and then moved on to Tallahassee. Also in 1914, two special suffrage editions of local newspapers were produced in Jacksonville and Pensacola. Newspaper columnist Lillian C. West also wrote about women's suffrage in several local papers.

The Florida Legislature again considered women's suffrage in 1915. The Pensacola Equal Suffrage League worked to get 1,500 signatures in favor of the women's suffrage amendment in the state legislature. Other suffrage groups campaigned, raised money and participated in parades throughout the state in 1915. The bill did not pass. However, the legislature created the municipality of Fellsmere and did not specify that only males could vote in the city. On June 19, 1915, Zena Dreier legally voted and became the first woman to vote in the South.

Most Florida suffrage groups also had classes where they studied history and citizenship. The Florida Federation of Women's Clubs (FFWC) formally endorsed women's suffrage that year. Several more chapters of the Men's Leagues were organized in 1915. Suffragists reported in 1916 at the state convention that they had distributed thousands of pieces of literature and written around fifteen hundred letters to advocate for women's suffrage.

In April 1917, the suffrage groups worked to get another women's suffrage amendment passed in the state legislature. Mary Baird Bryan testified in favor of the bill in front of the Legislature. The bill passed the Florida Senate by 23 to 7 on April 23. Several members of the Florida House spoke in favor of women's suffrage. The bill did not receive the necessary three-fifth majority to pass.

Alice Paul visited Florida in May 1917 to recruit members for the National Woman's Party (NWP) and form a chapter. Florida NWP member, Mary A. Nolan, was arrested in November 1917 for picketing outside the White House. She was sentenced to six days in jail and went to the Occoquan Workhouse. Nolan was one of the oldest suffragists picketing with the NWP. She was later arrested several times in 1919 while involved with Watchfire demonstrations. Nolan later traveled with the Prison Special which stopped in Jacksonville in February 1919.

In 1918, during a special legislative session, several local bills passed providing municipal suffrage for women in Aurantia, Daytona, Daytona Beach, DeLand, and Orange City. Other cities that received charters for municipal women's suffrage in Florida were Clearwater, Cocoa, Delray, Dunedin, Florence Villa, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Moore Haven, Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Tarpon Springs.

During the 1919 legislative session in April, there was action on another women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution. This measure did not pass and was voted against early in the session. When the Nineteenth Amendment was about to go out to the states for ratification, Governor Sidney Johnston Catts urged Florida lawmakers to become the first state to ratify. Later, he did not call the legislature back into session. Catts didn't believe it would pass the Florida Legislature at that time. Suffragists believed that having the first vote on the amendment would have caused problems for ratification efforts in other states.

After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, women were able to register to vote in state and federal elections. On September 7, 1920, Helen Hunt West of Duval County became the first women in Florida to register under the new rules. Hunt West continued to work to get Florida to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment for the rest of her life. Florida didn't ratify the Nineteenth Amendment until May 13, 1969.

Anti-suffragism in Florida 
One Florida state representative, L. C. O'Neal, argued that giving women the right to vote would lower them "from the exalted position which they now held." Other men did not believe that women were equal to men in their ability to vote in the same way that women differed from men physically. Others, like Representative Frank Clark from Gainesville used quotations from the Bible to justify the idea that women should have different gender roles from men. Clark insisted that women should only act as their husbands instructed them.

It was also argued that women's suffrage was a "Northern" idea, and therefore as people living in the South, they should reject the arguments for it. Representatives in the Florida House pointed out that giving women the vote would also mean that African-American women would vote. They believed this would lead to a "train of evils." Representative Clark also conflated socialism in his racist reasoning against allowing women to vote. He believed that allowing women to vote would be a slippery slope that would lead to more Black people voting, women's character becoming degraded, and "destroy the American home."

See also 

 List of Florida suffragists
 Timeline of women's suffrage in Florida
 Women's suffrage in states of the United States
 Women's suffrage in the United States

References

Sources 

 
 
 

 
 

Feminism and history
History of voting rights in the United States
History of women's rights in the United States
Politics of Florida
Suffrage referendums
Women's suffrage in the United States
Florida suffrage Attempts to achieve women's suffrage in Montana started while Montana was still a territory. The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was an early organizer that supported suffrage in the state, arriving in 1883. Women were given the right to vote in school board elections and on tax issues in 1887. When the state constitutional convention was held in 1889, Clara McAdow and Perry McAdow invited suffragist, Henry Blackwell, to speak to the delegates about equal women's suffrage. While that proposition did not pass, women retained their right to vote in school and tax elections as Montana became a state. In 1895, National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) came to Montana to organize local groups. Montana suffragists held a convention and created the Montana Woman's Suffrage Association (MWSA). Suffragists continued to organize, hold conventions and lobby the Montana Legislature for women's suffrage through the end of the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, Jeannette Rankin became a driving force around the women's suffrage movement in Montana. By January 1913, a women's suffrage bill had passed the Montana Legislature and went out as a referendum. Suffragists launched an all-out campaign leading up to the vote. They traveled throughout Montana giving speeches and holding rallies. They sent out thousands of letters and printed thousands of pamphlets and journals to hand out. Suffragists set up booths at the Montana State Fair and they held parades. Finally, after a somewhat contested election on November 3, 1914, the suffragists won the vote. Montana became one of eleven states with equal suffrage for most women. When the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, Montana ratified it on August 2, 1919. It wasn't until 1924 with the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act that Native American women gained the right to vote.

Early efforts 

The earliest suffrage organizing in the territory of Montana started with the  Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Frances Willard came to Montana in 1883 in order to set up local WCTU chapters. Willard gave one of the first women's suffrage speeches in the state that year and advised the local chapters to create suffrage committees. The next year, during the state constitutional convention in 1884, equal suffrage for women was proposed by Judge. W. J. Stephens from Missoula. However, neither the suffrage proposal nor statehood was accepted that year.

In 1887, Clara McAdow requested help organizing suffrage groups in Montana from suffragists in the east, but was not able to get a commitment. That same year, women gained the right to vote in school board elections. Women were also allowed to vote on tax issues. However, the vote did not completely extend to Native American women, who were excluded if they lived on a reservation.

During the 1889 state Constitutional Convention, Clara's husband, Perry McAdow from Fergus County, proposed adding women's suffrage language. He invited Henry Blackwell to the convention as a speaker. Blackwell said, writing to Lucy Stone, "There has never been a woman suffrage meeting held in Montana." He said that suffragists should have come to Montana when Clara McAdow wrote them for help earlier. Blackwell lobbied as many convention delegates as he was able. He spoke to the convention and begged that at the very least delegates did not remove any suffrage women were already entitled to in Montana. Blackwell was able to persuade the constitutional delegates to consider adding language to the state constitution that would make later changes to suffrage easier. However, even that proposal failed, though women retained their right to vote in school board elections as Montana became a state.

In Helena, a women's suffrage club was founded in January 1890. However, by 1895, the club had dissolved. On May 15, 1895, Emma Smith DeVoe from the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) came to Montana where she organized chapters in several cities. The NAWSA chapters worked to create a state suffrage convention in Helena which was held September 2 and 3 in 1895. Carrie Chapman Catt attended as a speaker. The creation of the Montana Woman's Suffrage Association (MWSA) came out of the convention and Harriet P. Sanders accepted the role as first president. Catt provided the local groups with a course of study on women's suffrage tactics and issues.

A women's suffrage amendment bill was introduced in the state congress in 1895 by Representative John S. Huseby. It passed by the necessary two-thirds vote in the House. T. W. Brosnan from Cascade County presented two petitions for women's suffrage to the Senate. The bill was unable to pass the Senate, despite the petitions.

In 1896, DeVoe came back to Montana to continue organizing suffragists. That year, on November 17 to 19, MWSA held their state convention at Butte. It was a large convention and MWSA appointed a central committee made up of women from around the state. Ella Knowles Haskell became the group's next president. Haskell was an effective leader and helped get 2,500 signatures on a petition for a women's suffrage amendment to the 1887 state legislature. Some of the signers also came to lobby politicians. MWSA set up a legislative committee which included women from almost every county in Montana to lobby the legislators. During deliberations in the legislature, suffragists "overflowed the galleries and filled available space on the floor." Haskell was asked to speak to the legislature and later, the legislature asked to hear Sarepta Sanders. Despite the suffragists' efforts, the bill for the amendment did not get the required two-thirds vote to pass.

The 1897 MWSA convention was held in Helena in November. By this year, there were 35 local suffrage groups in Montana. At this convention, the suffragists also formed an Equal Suffrage Party which was organized like other political parties in the state. In 1898, suffragists solicited the positions of legislative candidates on women's suffrage. MWSA held another convention in October 1899 and elected Maria M. Dean as president. Catt and Mary Garrett Hay came to the convention to campaign. Also in 1899, Mary B. Atwater helped to lobby the Montana Legislature for another women's suffrage amendment. John R. Toole introduced the amendment during this session and several suffragists again testified for women's suffrage. The bill was defeated again.

Helena suffragists lobbied at the Republican, Democratic and Populist party conventions for a women's suffrage plank in 1900. At this time, the only active local club in Montana was the Helena Equal Suffrage Club. Catt, Gail Laughlin and Laura A. Gregg returned to Montana and helped reorganize the women's suffrage club in Helena in 1902. Laughlin spent that summer organizing women's suffrage groups around the state. In November she came to Great Falls to give a speech and the Great Falls Tribune called her "well worth hearing." In 1903, a women's suffrage amendment was introduced in the state legislature, but didn't pass.

The women's suffrage movement in Montana had stalled by 1905.  Even though women's suffrage amendments were proposed in the legislature, suffragists did not actively campaign for them.

Getting the vote 

In 1911, the Montana Legislature introduced a new women's suffrage bill. Jeannette Rankin addressed the legislators during the deliberations. When the bill went up for votes, it received a majority of support, but not the two-thirds vote required to pass. However, the majority vote gave suffragists in Montana hope. In 1911 and 1912, women's suffrage groups hosted booths at the Montana State Fair where they passed out literature and buttons.

In January 1913, the Montana Legislature passed another women's suffrage bill. Leading up to the referendum vote in 1914, suffragists staged a publicity campaign and Rankin organized women throughout the state. She set up people to act as a claque during political speeches. This encouraged politicians to mention suffrage more often. Maggie Smith Hathaway traveled 5,700 miles through Montana bringing the message of women's suffrage, earning her the nickname of "The Whirlwind." Members of the WCTU spoke to church members about women's suffrage. In rural areas, suffragists hosted rallies with a dance afterwards. It was reported that "oldtimers" said "What would our State have been without the women? You bet you can count on us." Suffragists even spoke to movie-goers who were waiting for the next film to start.

Suffrage supporters contacted Montana newspapers every week about the vote. They sent out around 100,000 letters and sent personal letters to farmers in the state. Thirty-thousand copies of "Women Teachers of Montana Should Have the Vote" were printed and passed out by the Missoula Teachers' Suffrage Committee. Suffragists starting publishing a newspaper in Helena, the Suffrage Daily News.

In the spring, Harriet Burton Laidlaw and James Lees Laidlaw visited Montana. James Laidlaw and Wellington D. Rankin founded a Montana chapter of the National Men's Suffrage League. Suffragists persuaded the governor, Sam V. Stewart, to declare May 2 "Women's Day." On that day, they held a car rally on Last Chance Gulch in Helena. In June, Rankin gave a speech to the Montana Federation of Women's Clubs (MFWC) in Lewistown, Montana. The speech was covered by Belle Fligelman Winestine.

At the Montana State Fair in September, suffragists sponsored a women's suffrage booth. At the booth, they gave out copies of the Suffrage Daily News. Children attending the fair were given hat bands that read "I want my mother to vote." After the fair, a large parade was held in Helena. Cars were decorated with suffrage colors and delegates represented different areas of Montana. Anna Howard Shaw and Rankin lead the parade. The Boy Scouts and the Anaconda band also marched in the parade. Hundreds of women marched wearing yellow outfits and thousands of spectators came to view the parade which stretched out over a mile.

The campaign leading up to the vote cost around $8,000 and that was with many of the women donating their time and working for free. When the suffragists' funds were lost when a bank collapsed, James Laidlaw gave funds to the suffrage effort. Rosalie Jones donated $1,000. Suffragists raised money by denying themselves entertainment, such as the movies, and donated that money to the cause instead. Money was also raised through society teas and theater presentations.The vote was held on November 3, 1914. Poll watchers were on hand during the election because suffragists worried that the anti-suffragists might try to cheat. The tight race was counted over several days with areas of the state refusing to report the count of their ballot boxes. Anaconda officials locked up their election reports and would not provide them, holding up the tallies. Rankin threatened to hire lawyers to ensure a full count and let NAWSA know about the situation. Lawyers were hired and the press was notified. Edith Clinch took control of the situation in Anaconda and in Boulder, Montana, Mary Atwater was in charge of watching the count. Finally all ballots were tallied. The amendment passed by 41,302 to 37,588. Montana became one of eleven states to pass equal women's suffrage.

In January 1915, Rankin invited suffragists and groups to Helena for a conference on "intelligent use of the ballot." Suffrage groups in the state changed their names to Good Government Clubs and worked towards positive political change. These later became Montana League of Women Voters groups.

On July 29, 1919, Governor Samuel Stewart recalled Montana legislators to open a special session. During the session, Stewart urged legislators to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment because "Montana already has woman suffrage; her women vote upon every important issue presented to our people." The ratification passed immediately and the governor signed it on August 2, 1919. Montana was the thirteenth state to ratify the amendment. Native Americans in Montana could not vote until 1924 when the Indian Citizenship Act was passed.

Anti-suffragism in Montana 

The anti-suffrage movement in Montana consisted of both men and women who did not want things in society to change. Anti-suffragists felt that women's suffrage challenged traditional gender roles. Women were meant to be in charge of domestic spheres and stay out of politics they argued. In addition, antis claimed that women would just vote the same way as the men in their lives did. Anti-suffragists claimed that women didn't really want to vote. Politician, Martin Maginnis, claimed that giving women the vote would be forcing something on women that they really didn't want or need. Legislators passed along stories of women bragging that they had voted more than once in school board elections. Maginnis, believed that giving the vote to women would lead to a theocracy. Conversely, another politician, G. L. Ramsey, called the idea of women voting "unChristian."

Some of the anti-suffragists were also against prohibition. In order to keep the issues separate, the Montana Equal Suffrage Association (MESA) would not allow the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to march in their parade in 1914. Mining interests, like the Anaconda Co., worried that women getting the vote would mean more safety laws and guidelines in their mines.

Anti-suffrage women did not get organized as quickly as the suffragists because antis believed that becoming involved in politics was "unwomanly." Anti-suffragists did not organize until late in the suffrage fight. In Butte, at the end of the summer in 1914, women founded the Montana Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. They held a booth at the Montana State Fair and handed out anti-suffrage literature.

See also 

 List of Montana suffragists
 Timeline of women's suffrage in Montana
 Women's suffrage in the United States

References

Sources

External links 
 Collection of the Daily Suffrage News

Feminism and history
History of voting rights in the United States
History of women's rights in the United States
Politics of Montana
Suffrage referendums
Montana suffrage
Women's suffrage in the United States
History of women in Montana