Traverse City Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle 150th Anniversary

March 7, 2009

Michigan suffrage timeline: 1846-1922

1846: Ernestine L. Ross addresses Legislature about need and right of women to vote. Nothing happens.

1849: A state Senate committee proposes a universal suffrage amendment. No action taken because of the "unusualness" and "needlessness" of the franchise for women.

1867: Legislature passes an act that allows women taxpayers to vote in school elections, the first step toward voting rights for women.

1870: Michigan Suffrage Association is formed in January, and a Northwestern Association in November.

1874: Voters defeat a women's suffrage amendment to Michigan Constitution by a margin of more than three to one.

1879: Susan B. Anthony speaks in Traverse City on March 7 and in Manistee, Ludington and Frankfort in early December.

1880: Many state suffrage groups send delegates to the 12th Annual Convention of the Michigan Woman Suffrage Association in Grand Rapids. "Notable among these societies (were) those of Manistee, Frankfort, Big Rapids, Grand Traverse, Hartford, Flint, etc.," recording secretary Fannie Fowler of Manistee noted in the convention report.

1881: School suffrage extended to parents and guardians of children of school age.

1883: Manistee suffrage advocates collect more than 3,000 signatures on a petition asking the state Legislature to allow women to vote in municipal elections.

1884: Michigan Equal Suffrage Association organizes, and a systematic campaign for municipal suffrage bill begins. Senate defeats it by one vote.

1893: Legislature approves municipal suffrage bill that the State Supreme Court declares unconstitutional, saying the Legislature had no right to create a new class of voters.

1895: State House defeats another proposed constitutional amendment to grant women suffrage.

1907: State constitutional convention delegates debate woman suffrage but defeat a proposed amendment 57-38 in 1908. They adopt a compromise that allows women taxpayers to vote on public spending issues.

1912: The Progressive Party endorses woman's suffrage, as does Gov. Chase Osborn, who persuades Legislature to put it on the state ballot. It passes, but a suspicious recount results in a defeat by 762 votes.

1913: The Michigan Association Opposed to Equal Suffrage forms. A new suffrage proposal is defeated easily: 264,882 to 168,738 votes.

1918: Male voters approve a state constitutional amendment granting suffrage to Michigan women, a full year before Congress approves the National Suffrage Amendment, or 19th Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution.

1919: Women vote for statewide offices for the first time in 1919, and Michigan is the second state to ratify the 19th Amendment.

1920: 19th Amendment becomes U.S. law on Aug. 26.

Text Only
  • WILLIAM MILLIKEN
    After looking back, we look to the future

    In this last installment of the Record-Eagle's year-long 150th Anniversary History Project series, native son Bill Milliken ponders the future, including the question: What will the Traverse City area be like in 2159?

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:14 am 9 Photos
  • Derek Bailey: Cooperation is key
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    I am excited and optimistic in thinking about my predictions for the area and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for the next 150 years. Clearly, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of Mother Earth. The GTB Tribal Nation has grown exponentially as an area and tribe over the last 29 years. We must now sustain and channel that growth.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • George McManus: Manage resources
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    The Grand Traverse Region is blessed with abundant renewable natural resources, which properly managed, will remain for the next 150 years and beyond. The community of the future depends on what direction the citizenry and leadership decide to take and external influences over which they have no control.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Marsha Smith: Listen to each other
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    The Grand Vision has shown me that the people of this region love it here and have a commitment to building a better future. We care about what happens here and we care about the future. My main concern is that we sometimes forget about all things we hold in common and focus more on what keeps us apart.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Joe VanderMeulen: Plan for six generations
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    We need to look forward across six or more generations of people to see 150 years into the future. What wonderful changes there may be, if we choose wisely, just get lucky, or some of both. Of course, we face many threats to our security and survival. The risks of deadly pandemics, global climate change and unimaginable wars are real.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:10 am 1 Photo
  • November 2, 2009
  • Women helped build Traverse City
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    Women helped build Traverse City's library system, schools and hospital. They lobbied for clean water and clean streets. They were concerned about the needy, child labor, reforestation, international peace and the right of women to vote. They did this largely through two local women's clubs -- the Ladies Library Association and the Traverse City Woman's Club.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:17 am 4 Photos
  • TC's early women leaders

    Thirteen women who influenced early Traverse City are profiled.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:15 am
  • October 31, 2009
  • TC history exhibit visits TADL

    The Record-Eagle's traveling exhibit of Traverse City and newspaper history will be on display throughout November at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere.

    Continued ...
    Oct 31, 2009 9:30 pm
  • October 19, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: TC's 1925 earthquake
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    Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but Traverse City residents definitely felt the earth move beneath their feet and watched electric ceiling lights sway overhead on Feb. 28, 1925. "EARTHQUAKE HERE FIRST EVER FELT: Dishes Rattle, Chairs Rock, Smokers 'Swear Off' and People in High Places Come Down," Record-Eagle headlines shouted after tremors rattled the city at 8:27 p.m. that Saturday night.

    Continued ...
    Oct 19, 2009 7:00 am 1 Photo
  • October 5, 2009
  • Water Wars: Advocating for 'public trust'
    Jim Olson

    It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling "The Water Wars."

    Continued ...
    Oct 5, 2009 6:18 am 3 Photos
  • October 3, 2009
  • R-E editorial decries water diversion

    Record-Eagle concern about Great Lakes water diversion dates to the early 1900s, including a Jan. 14, 1925, editorial about the U.S. governments challenge of Chicagos right to divert Lake Michigan water without consulting its neighbors.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • Summary of summer Great Lakes water issues

    Great Lakes water issues this summer included the following.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • September 28, 2009
  • 150 Years: Bay served as sewer, water supply
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    The Boardman River in Traverse City wasn't a pretty sight at the turn of the last century. It was a city sewer, and it flowed into West Bay, the source of the city's water supply.

    Continued ...
    Sep 28, 2009 7:18 am 7 Photos
  • August 10, 2009
  • 150 Years: Cartographer maps settlements
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    Helen Hornbeck Tanner, a Beulah summer resident and historian of Great Lakes American Indians and cartography, created a new historical map of the Grand Traverse region that traces early American Indian and white settlement.

    Continued ...
    Aug 10, 2009 6:39 am 2 Photos
  • July 27, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: Tracking Titus
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    Harold Titus has been one of my favorite Traverse City historical characters since I read "Timber," his 1922 novel, last year. He intrigues me for many reasons. Part of his mystery is that he is virtually unknown today. He is "new" local history.

    Continued ...
    Jul 27, 2009 8:06 am 1 Photo