After several attempts to get an amendment added to the state constitution, Arkansas suffragists finally won a partial victory in 1917.
In a front-page headline, the March 7th Arkansas Gazette proclaimed, “Governor Signs Suffrage Measure,” which allowed women to vote in primary elections. The Gazette noted that Arkansas was the “first southern state to give women the right to vote,” and in his address at the suffrage celebration, Governor Brough exclaimed, a bit prematurely, “The world no longer asks if woman is entitled to the ballot, but what she will do with it after obtaining the privilege.”
The following year, 40,000 Arkansas women voted in the primary election. To learn more, visit ARvotesforwomen.com.