Washington Women's Suffrage and the City of Spokane: Primary Source Documents for Elementary Students and Educators

Abstract

The fight for women’s suffrage was not silent between the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. During those seventy-two years, thousands of women fought for the right to vote as full United States citizens in their cities and states. While Washington was a territory, women were able to vote for four years, 1883-1887, before they were barred from the polls by political maneuvering and the liquor lobby. After Washington became a state in 1889, women continued to advocate for their right to vote, finally victorious following the 1910 election. This project seeks to center the tactics of Washington women and their partnerships with other progressive era organizations in contrast to the earlier national movement and deliver the information to fourth and fifth grade students in Spokane, Washington. The curriculum guide features Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) as the central teaching methodology to expose nine- and ten-year-old students to primary source documents that are held at various archives in Washington state, especially the Joel E. Ferris Archives, located in Spokane.