Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

Event, Site

Location

419 D St, Salida, CO 81201, USA

Lat/Long

38.53209, -105.99211

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

In 1893 noted women’s suffrage and peace activist Carrie Chapman Catt helped establish the Salida Equal Suffrage league—an organization dedicated to promoting the right to vote for women—while touring the state of Colorado on a lecture circuit. Equal suffrage leagues, such as the one in Salida, were crucial organizations in the fight for women’s suffrage. These grassroots organizations connected their local communities with the movement through outreach efforts and public demonstrations. Realizing this, Catt, who began her activism in Iowa and was a celebrated speaker, dedicated a significant portion of her early efforts to touring and helping establish local suffrage organizations, though her career as an activist would reach both national and international acclaim.

Evidence of this includes Catt’s visit to Salida, Colorado. During her stop in Salida Catt delivered a lecture advocating for women’s suffrage. Her words clearly resonated with those in attendance; following the talk at a local Baptist church, Catt helped form the Salida Equal Suffrage League, which quickly consisted of thirty members according to the Salida Mail’s September 15^th 1893 issue. The organization would continue to meet at the Baptist church in the weeks to follow.

Two months after the formation of the Salida Equal Suffrage League a referendum on suffrage for women was held in Colorado. The measure passed, making Colorado the first state to secure voting rights for women by a popular referendum. The momentum continued, and within a year women were serving in the state’s general assembly.

Along with her activism in Colorado, Catt directed the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and shortly after the ratification of the 19^th amendment she founded the League of Women Voters as well.