US Women Who Ran for Political Office Before 1920

Her Hat Was in the Ring!

U.S.Women Who Ran for Political Office Before 1920

		Belva A. Lockwood	Jeannette Rankin	Anne Martin

This web site identifies these women candidates for elective office in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, giving biographical information for each woman, information about her campaign, party affiliation, photographs, and lists of selected resources.

Women Alphabetically by Name	Women by State	Women by Office	Women by Party

Participate in this site! Send us additional names of U.S. women who ran for any political office before 1920 Fill out the online form Interesting Links: List of "firsts" women office holders around the world Images of women participating in the electoral process Cartoons The connection between suffrage and women's electoral campaigns Click here	In the second half of the 19th century and through the first two decades of the twentieth century hundreds of daring women ran for political office on the local, state, and national levels thoughout the U.S. Even decades before 1920 when the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constituion granted all women in America the right to vote, some states and localities women were able to vote for school board representatives, county clerks, and state office holders. With the right to vote also came the right to hold office, and women quickly took up the challenge to run for public office. Elizabeth Cady Stanton offered her name twice as a candidate for the U.S. Congress immediately after the Civil War. Newspaper publisher Victoria Woodhull announced as a presidential candidate in 1871. Belva Lockwood ran a full campaign for the presidency in 1884 and again in 1888. By the last decade of the century lesser-known women were drawn to politics through the suffrage, temperance, and progressive movements and ran for a wide variety of political offices. Colorado elected the first three women to a state legislature in 1894. Two years later, in Utah, Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman state senator. Nonetheless, in the 20 th century, the stories of Woodhull and Lockwood and other women candidates of their era were lost. Even after the passage of the 19 th amendment and the integration of women into the electoral process, it continued, and continues, to be a struggle for women to get elected to public office beyond the local level. Many states have yet to elect a woman to serve in Congress, as governor, or as mayors of large cities. For minority women the situation on the national level has been even more dire. The first African-American woman representative was not elected to Congress until 1968 and only one has served in the U.S. Senate. The first Hispanic American woman was elected to the House of Representatives in 1989 and none have served in the Senate. As of 2008 no Native American woman has yet served in Congress.	Contemporary literary works on women, suffrage, and elections Click here The status of women and elections laws by state (not all states included): Pennsylvania Utah

Participate in this site!
Send us additional names of U.S. women who ran for any political office before 1920
Fill out the online form

Interesting Links:
List of "firsts" women office holders around the world

Images of women participating in the electoral process
Cartoons

The connection between suffrage and women's electoral campaigns
Click here

In the second half of the 19th century and through the first two decades of the twentieth century hundreds of daring women ran for political office on the local, state, and national levels thoughout the U.S. Even decades before 1920 when the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constituion granted all women in America the right to vote, some states and localities women were able to vote for school board representatives, county clerks, and state office holders. With the right to vote also came the right to hold office, and women quickly took up the challenge to run for public office.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton offered her name twice as a candidate for the U.S. Congress immediately after the Civil War. Newspaper publisher Victoria Woodhull announced as a presidential candidate in 1871. Belva Lockwood ran a full campaign for the presidency in 1884 and again in 1888.
By the last decade of the century lesser-known women were drawn to politics through the suffrage, temperance, and progressive movements and ran for a wide variety of political offices. Colorado elected the first three women to a state legislature in 1894. Two years later, in Utah, Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman state senator.
Nonetheless, in the 20 th century, the stories of Woodhull and Lockwood and other women candidates of their era were lost. Even after the passage of the 19 th amendment and the integration of women into the electoral process, it continued, and continues, to be a struggle for women to get elected to public office beyond the local level. Many states have yet to elect a woman to serve in Congress, as governor, or as mayors of large cities. For minority women the situation on the national level has been even more dire. The first African-American woman representative was not elected to Congress until 1968 and only one has served in the U.S. Senate. The first Hispanic American woman was elected to the House of Representatives in 1989 and none have served in the Senate. As of 2008 no Native American woman has yet served in Congress.

Contemporary literary works on women, suffrage, and elections
Click here

The status of women and elections laws by state (not all states included):
Pennsylvania
Utah

Her Hat Was in the Ring! U.S.Women Who Ran for Political Office Before 1920

Her Hat Was in the Ring!

U.S.Women Who Ran for Political Office Before 1920