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Oregon Secretary of State Archives Division

Jewish American Woman Suffrage

Jewish American men have long possessed the right to vote and hold office in the U.S. Women in the Jewish community, however, were disenfranchised the same as other American women before the 19th Amendment. By the 1900s there was strong support for woman suffrage among the national Jewish community and locally in Oregon among Portland’s historically Jewish neighborhoods. There were detractors as well, as many Jewish men feared that a vote for women would mean an end to the sale of liquor and the shuttering of businesses that relied on alcohol.


Yellow sunflower with blue sky and puffy white clouds in background.
Many in the woman suffrage movement used the sunflower to symbolize their efforts. (Oregon Scenic Images collection)

Undeterred, many Jewish women pushed on in the struggle for suffrage, working with national groups like the National Council of Jewish Women while those in Oregon also worked with the Portland Equal Suffrage League. Many Jewish communities were tight-knit, and women had few obstacles spreading the message of suffrage among one another. Indeed, Jewish women in Portland were instrumental in convincing anti-suffragist women to stand up for their own voting rights. Though they could not yet vote, Jewish American women made up a unified bloc dedicated to raising awareness and providing volunteer activism and financial support for the suffrage movement.

African American Woman’s Club Movement