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Suffrage Leaders

Countless women and men, both in Oregon and nationally, advanced the cause of woman suffrage over the decades. Their efforts culminated in the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. The names of some of the leaders listed below, such as Susan B. Anthony and Helen Keller, are familiar. But many others toiled in relative obscurity for decades to further the movement. This list is not comprehensive but it does provide a taste of the skills and experiences of some of the leaders fighting for woman suffrage.

Biographical Sketches

Anthony, Susan B. (1820-1906)

Bonnin, Gertrude “Zitkála-Šá” Simmons (1876-1938)

Bryant, Louise (1885-1936)

Burns, Lucy (1879-1966)

Cannady, Beatrice Morrow (1889-1974)

Catt, Carrie Chapman (1859-1947)

Clarke, Kathryn (1873-1940)

Douglass, Frederick (1818-1895)

Duniway, Abigail Scott (1834-1915)

Equi, Marie, M.D. (1872-1952)

Field, Sara Bard (1882-1974)

Gram, Betty (1893-1969)

Keller, Helen (1880-1968)

Lovejoy, Esther Pohl, M.D. (1869-1967)

Otero-Warren, Adelina “Nina” Isabel Emilia Luna (1881-1965)

Paul, Alice, PhD (1885-1977)

Phillips, Wendell (1811-1884)

Rankin, Jeannette (1880-1973)

Redmond, Harriet “Hattie” (1862-1952)

Schulze, Tye Leung (1887-1972)

Shaw, Anna Howard, M.D. (1847-1919)

Talbert, Mary Burnett (1866-1923)

Thompson, Mary Anna Cooke (1825-1919)

Weeks, Lizzie (1879-1976)

Wells-Barnett, Ida B. (1862-1931)


Woman Suffrage Trading Cards


Susan B. Anthony 


Photo of Carrie Chapman Catt in dark robes & Anna Howard Shaw in white robes.
Two leaders of the suffrage movement, Carrie Chapman Catt and Anna Howard Shaw, in 1917. (Courtesy of Library of Congress)