Colorado was the first state in the union to approve women’s suffrage by popular vote, a full 27 years before the 19th Amendment was passed. Organization of the state movement was led by a reporter from the Denver
Catt raised money and traveled to Colorado to campaign. The women campaigned in miners’ camps, in cities, in small mountain towns. They won support of labor unions. Catt herself was as close to Durango as Rico, traveling at one point by handcart down a mountainside to reach Pillotsville. Fifty suffrage clubs were organized and a number of men of influence in Colorado joined them.
On Nov. 7, 1893, the men of Colorado voted 35,798 to 29,461 to give their women the right to vote! The women were startled by their own victory and wanted to do something to celebrate but couldn’t think what to do. Finally one of the women began to sing, “Praise God from whom all blessing flow” and the other women joined in.
When the 19th Amendment passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1918, women left the galleries and in tribute sang the same hymn the Colorado women had used for their celebration over two decades earlier. Congratulations to the women and men of Colorado for their teamwork, tenacity and wisdom.
Jane CoxAmes, Iowa
