Women Making News

Early Public Discourse and the Fight for Equality

Today we often rely on the internet to obtain information on current events and issues, people in the burgeoning frontier relied upon newspapers to keep up with both local and national news. Many of the earliest Nevada newspapers coincided with the mining booms occurring in the 1850s. As women began fighting for equality, newspapers served as a forum for public discourse on the activities of these women. Nevada women’s organizations began a concerted effort for suffrage in the late 1860s, the same time the national movement for equal suffrage was picking up steam. By looking at news coverage one can understand what topics or events were important in a particular location or at a particular time. Newspaper coverage during the fight for suffrage revealed not only a myriad of opinions on suffrage, but also the activities of the suffragists and the anti-suffragist.

Public discourse regarding suffrage fell on various ends of the spectrum. One popular Nevada newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise, published several “humorous” commentaries about the women’s suffrage movement in addition to more informative articles. One of the more interesting pieces, written by author and humorist William Wright, pen name Dan De Quille, defined the duties of the State Mineralogist, one of which included taking a sample upon the discovery of “milk-sickness, female suffrage, poison oak or choke-damp” and depositing it in the archives of the Pacific Coast Pioneers (an early settler organization).^[1] Although Wright intended the article to be funny, this association of female suffrage with things that cause illness or death is indicative of the concerns many had regarding the attainment of equal suffrage for women.

The Enterprise continued to utilize humor by publishing a joke that suggested drowning the daughters of the “female-suffrage shriekers.”^[2] In another article, the Enterprise reports on a group of “lunatics” and their proposal to abolish the presidency, the Senate, and to change the Fifteenth Amendment to include the word “sex” after the word “color.”^[3] The “lunatics” are likely the recently organized Greenback Party, predecessors to the Populist Party and supporters of female suffrage. Nevertheless, the Enterprise published some astute observations. In a short commentary in 1876, the newspaper indicated that suffrage in New England would have already passed if it would not result in women being able to outvote the men.^[4] This is an interesting observation given that at this time the ratio of women to men in the West was much smaller than in the East. There was no fear that the women could outvote the men and that may be part of why suffrage passed sooner in the West than it did in the East.

In 1878, the Woman Suffrage Convention in Washington D.C. adopted several resolutions indicating the duty of the government to provide equal rights to all citizens. The Territorial Enterprise reported on this national convention. Rather than engaging in humorous commentary like before, the article focused on the role Nevada played in the movement and revealed much about the support Nevada women received from their local senators. The president of the convention indicated that Senator Jones of Nevada had donated money towards the cause and had “thus effectively represented the women of his State.”^[5] The article also indicated that Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California had donated money in the previous year. Later in 1878, Senator Sargent introduced the Woman Suffrage Amendment to Congress. This amendment would later become the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

The fight for suffrage continued into the early 1900s, with local newspapers starting to publish more on Nevada’s role in the suffrage movement. For more on the next phase of the battle, click below!

The Suffrage Struggle Moves Into the Progressive Era

Sources:

^[1] “State Mineralogist: The Duties of the Office Defined,” Territorial Enterprise, November 15, 1874, America’s Historical Newspapers.

^[2] “What,” Territorial Enterprise, November 25, 1874, America’s Historical Newspapers.

^[3] “Lunatics in Council,” Territorial Enterprise, December 22, 1874, America’s Historical Newspapers.

^[4] “New England,” Territorial Enterprise, April 13, 1876, American’s Historical Newspapers.

^[5] “The Woman’s Suffrage Convention,” Territorial Enterprise, January 10, 1878. America’s Historical Newspapers.