Pacific Northwest History
Pioneering Women & Women's Suffrage
"Photo of a pioneering African American suffragist and civil rights activist Hattie Redmond, influential in the second phase of the woman suffrage movement in Oregon, and who served as the president of the Colored Women's Equal Suffrage Association."
-From the University of Oregon Library's Digital Collection
(click on image to enlarge, cited below)
Featured Websites & Online Collections
Much of what is known about women's day-to-day lives from this pioneering time period comes from personal writings such as letters or diaries. Like children, women were meant to be seen but not heard; however, the fight for women's rights is well documented. Most of the links below pertain to women's suffrage; however, be sure to check out some of the state/location-specific tabs in this guide for more info relating to women in larger contexts.
- African American and Women Workers in World War IIFrom the Oregon History Project
- A Ballot for the LadiesThis exhibit celebrates the 100th anniversary of women’s permanent right to vote in Washington State" Includes articles, images, and more - from the UW Libraries
- Celebrating 100 years - Women in the LegislatureFind information about notable women in politics over the first 100 years of suffrage in Washington state.
- Feminist Voices & Visions from the Pacific NorthwestA digital collection from the University of Oregon
- The New Woman - DPLAA collection of sources from the Digital Public Library of America
- On Her Own Wings: Oregon Women and the Struggle for SuffrageFind articles, images, documents, and more, pertaining to Women and suffrage in the PNW.
- Oregon Women's History Consortium"The Oregon Women’s History Consortium is an educational organization that provides leadership to support research and education related to the history of women in Oregon."
- Oregon Women Vote! Commemorating Woman Suffrage in Oregon and the U.S.Collections of documents of various kinds pertaining to the women's vote in Oregon. Includes a section on women of color in suffrage
- Strength & Stamina: Women in the Seattle Fire DepartmentInformation, images, primary sources, etc - from the Seattle.gov website
- Washington's Women's History ConsortiumSearch collections pertaining to women's suffrage, politics, temperance, personal papers, and more.
- Washington State Women's History SelectionsA collection of documents, papers, letters, ephemera, and more - from the Washington State University Libraries Digital Collections
- Women's Voices - Digital HistoryA small collection of articles or other first-hand primary source materials from the Digital History website.
- Women and Seattle's Civil Rights History"This page is a gateway to the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project resources for exploring the civil rights activism of women in the Pacific Northwest"
- Women in City GovernmentInformation, images, primary sources, etc - from the Seattle.gov website
- Women in the West Oral histories - WSU Digital Collections"This collection holds nearly 200 of these interviews, originally recorded between 1979 and 2005. The majority of the women interviewed were born between 1881 and the early 1930s, and the collection provides invaluable first hand documentation regarding the role of women in the northwest during the early and mid 1900s."
- Grit City Magazine"Grit City Magazine was founded on the notion that Tacoma has good stories to tell. We explore the places that define it, pay homage to the history that built it, and celebrate the people who make it what it is today."
- Women's Suffrage in the WestAn online exhibit with images and other resources from the National Parks Service
- Women’s Histories in Pacific Northwest Quarterly"Pacific Northwest Quarterly has published a wide variety of articles on Women’s History over the last century. Below, you can find a collection of some of the essays published in PNQ."
Featured Articles
- Cammermeyer, Margarethe (b. 1942)From Women's Rights in the United States: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Issues, Events, and People
- League of Women Voters of Washington - Our HistoryA brief history of the League of Women Voters in Washington state.
- The road to women's suffrage began in Washington stateA 2020 article from Crosscut.
- Tacoma Was Home to the First Women-owned Worm FarmA 2022 article from Grit City Magazine
- Washington’s 1970 Abortion Reform Victory The Referendum 20 CampaignAn article and images from the Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project
- Woman Suffrage in OregonFrom the Oregon Encyclopedia
- Women's History - Tacoma History LiveSearch through a collection of articles about women's history in Tacoma - including info on some notable women and events.
- Women in Early SeattleAn online exhibit from the Seattle Municipal Archives, includes articles and images.
Scholarly Articles
- "Going to Church Just Never Even Occurred to Me": Women and Secularism in the Pacific Northwest, 1950-1975AN article from The Pacific Northwest Quarterly
- Reworking Race, Class, and Gender into Pacific Northwest HistoryAn article from Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies
- The State of Research on Pacific Northwest WomenAn article from Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies
- Tsugiki, a grafting: a history of a Japanese pioneer woman in Washington State"Examines the life of one Japanese pioneer woman, Teiko Tomita, as a method of exploring the historical experience of Japanese pioneer women in Washington State. Ways in which the tanka poems of Tomita in her anthology 'tsugiki' served as a form of journal for her; Reasons why the tanka provided a natural and common vehicle of expression for Japanese immigrants."
Sources used on this page:
Oregon Historical Society Research Library. (n.d.). Hattie Redmond [Photograph]. University of Oregon Libraries. https://expo.uoregon.edu/spotlight/100th-anniversary-of-suffrage/catalog/ 33-717
Featured Books & eBooks
Click on the book, or title, below to learn more
Yours for Liberty: Selections From Abigail Scott Duniway's Suffrage Newspaper
Includes entries on many relevant topics, like the Chinese in the area, transportation, women's suffrage, and more.
Worthy of Note
Some early women of note in Tacoma's history
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Mayor Eva Stewart , First Female Park Commissioner 1951
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Mathilda Mayer , Employee - Secretary for Park Board 1909
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Bernice Newell , Employee - Newspaper Reporter early 1900's
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Katherine Lockwood Squire, architect
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