History Colorado

Denver Public Library, Special Collections and Archives

See, think, and wonder about how people voted in the past.  There were a lot of obstacles in the way for women in their attempt to vote, one was transportation.

Outdoor portrait of a woman with a bicycle on Alameda Avenue in Denver, Colorado. She wears a dress with a high collar and ruffles and a hat. The bridge over the South Platte River is nearby.

Negative, Woman on a Bike

Women in automobile with Voting Poster attached.

Photograph, Votes For Women photo

Pair of grey suede and snakeskin high-heeled shoes with peep-toe worn by Bertha V. Perry. She was involved in the suffrage movement and was the first woman to graduate from Westerminster Law School (University of Denver) in 1919. She was secretary and director of the women's bureau of the Chamber of Commerce; Director of Big Sister Committee (precursor to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Organization); member of the Denver Bar Association; and the Women's Law Club.

Shoes

Photo printed in a newspaper of a polling place in 1893.  District and Ward 9, Precinct 1

polling place.jpg

Newspaper article

Polling place the year after women received the right to vote in Colorado.  Copied from "Harper's Weekly" Nov. 24, 1894; "A Precinct Headquarters in a Residence District - Time, 7:15 am

Photograph, Vote at Polling Place

Polling In the Past

This article discusses how suffrage has progressed.  Highlight and comment on the points of the discussion?  Is this a convincing article?

Has suffrage progressed? 

Learn about key leaders of the Women's Vote movement.  

Women's Vote Change Makers 

This article discusses how suffrage has stalled.  Highlight and comment on the points of the discussion?  Is this a convincing article?

Has Suffrage Stalled?

Explore Minnie Reyolds desk at the Denver Women’s Press Club.

Working on Suffrage

Explore a timeline of key dates of the Women’s Vote Movement.

Women's Vote Movement Timeline

Review the Parties and Symbols on the 1893 ballot.  Add text to explain what each of the parties and symbols mean and how they compare to today.

Political Parties in 1893

Women's Vote in Colorado

Over 100 years ago, the 19th Amendment was passed. Our collective understanding of what this means to us as citizens and a nation have shifted throughout time. In this kit we will explore changing perspectives on, citizenship and exclusion, and the legacies of this moment in our state and federal history. 


Elected Women in Colorado Teacher’s Guide

“This Shall be the Land for Women!-The Struggle for Western Women’s Suffrage”

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Women's Voting Rights in Colorado-High School

Polling In the Past

Guiding Question