Women Gain the Vote

Women at the Capitol with Gov. Brough
Courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission

The reform spirit that accompanied progressivism attracted prominent women like Governor Charles Brough's wife, who appeared on the steps of the capital at a suffrage rally in 1919 during her husband's governorship. Such women were more in tune with the National American Women's Suffrage Association than they were with the National Woman's Party, founded by the more radical Alice Paul. A branch of the latter organization was established in Little Rock in 1916, but it secured little following. Arkansas women gained a significant victory in 1917 when Arkansas became the first non-suffrage state to allow women to vote in its primary elections.

The nineteenth amendment meant that women could vote and serve in political office. Since 1920 Arkansas women have been highly visible -- and successful - in state politics.

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