History Colorado

Denver Public Library, Special Collections and Archives

Review each of these objects and consider these questions.  What do I see in this picture?  What do I think is happening in this picture?  What questions do I have about this picture?

Getting to the polls

Even with the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, many people were still excluded from voting in the United States. Explore ...


Voting Rights Timeline

Colorado Suffrage

Many people worked together to fight for voting rights for women in Colorado and across the United States. Learn about key leaders of the Women's Vote movement and how they helped shape this important movement.  

People Power

Democracy in our country relies on members of the community to participate in making and changing laws that are unjust or cause problems for society. Explore... 



This Is What Democracy Looks Like 

Explore Minnie Reynolds desk at the Denver Women’s Press Club

Suffrage work in action! 

In 1893, Colorado passed a law that expanded voting rights to some women nearly 25 years before a national law was passed. This changed the course of history in Colorado and continues to inspire social, economic, political and cultural advancements today. This resource kit explores the Women's Vote Movement in Colorado.


Elected Women in Colorado Teacher’s Guide

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

Caroline Nichols Churchill, Active Footsteps (Colorado Springs, 1909). 

, Denver Public Library, Western History Collection (DPLWHD). 

Women's Voting Rights in Colorado-Elementary School

Civics and Government

Social Studies

U.S. History

Supporters of Women’s Suffrage organized into groups like the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association. They supported each other and gained strength and safety in numbers.  They discussed social problems that they cared about like schools and streets, talked about reforms that were needed and expanded ideas of justice for all.    

Leaders in Colorado connected with National organizations for additional support. Leaders like Lucy Stone came to Colorado to speak and raise money.    

Women and men took to the streets with banners and picket signs to share their message to the community. They created sashes and buttons to advertise the cause and gain support. 

Female journalists got busy writing about why Women’s Suffrage was important through publications like the Queen Bee and Rocky Mountain News. Since only men could vote in 1983, Suffrage supporters had to advocate for their cause across the state.   

Has Women's Suffrage Progressed is the question-Here are the two sides.  This newspaper article provides a pro-con for suffrage with the pro written by Colorado suffrage leader Ellis Meredith and the con written by Mila Maynard

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Newspaper article

 In 1893, only men could vote in Colorado. But that didn’t stop women from showing up to polls. In 1894, three female elected officials were elected in Colorado, the first in the nation!  

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

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Women's Voting Rights in Colorado-Elementary School

This Is What Democracy Looks Like

Guiding Question

Organize