Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

Event, Site

Location

25 E Front St, Battle Mountain, NV 89820, USA

Lat/Long

40.64205, -116.93438

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

On July 4, 1870, the first women’s suffrage conference in the state of Nevada was held at the Capitol Hotel in Battle Mountain, Lander County, Nevada. Nevada had gained statehood in 1864 and the state constitution granted the right to vote exclusively to white men. The 1870 women’s suffrage convention in Battle Mountain was held to form a suffrage organization to fight for women’s right to vote in the state. According to an April 16, 1870 announcement for the upcoming convention, the event was organized in response to a proposed women’s suffrage amendment to the Nevada state constitution:

As the last Legislature has proposed an Amendment to the State Constitution by which women may be enfranchised, therefore, in order that the issue may be fairly brought before the electors of this State at the ensuing election, the friends of the measure in Humboldt county are requested to meet in Mass Convention at Battle Mountain, on Monday, 4th Day of July, 1870, for the purpose of effecting an organization. The Friends of Female Suffrage throughout the State are respectfully invited to be present for consultation and to devise the best means of perfecting a State organization.

On July 6, 1870, the Elko Independent reported on the “stirring addresses” and “immense enthusiasm” that was seen at the Battle Mountain suffrage convention. Suffragists that addressed the convention in support of women’s right to vote included Emily Pitts Stevens and Laura de Force Gordon. At the evening session, a state suffrage organization was formed with Laura de Force Gordon selected as president and Emily Pitts Stevens appointed to a committee on constitution.

Thanks to the efforts of Nevada suffragists, women in the state won the right to vote in 1914. On June 4, 1919, the United States Congress finally passed the Nineteenth Amendment which states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” In February 1920, Nevada ratified the Nineteenth Amendment and by August, the necessary 36 states had ratified the amendment, securing women’s right to vote across the United States.