Timeline of Arizona Women’s Suffrage
A movement shaped by perseverance, complexity, and the voices of many.
📍 1883
The first women’s suffrage bill is introduced in the Arizona Territorial Legislature.
🔹 It fails, 7 to 3. But women gain the right to vote in school elections.
📍 1891
Josephine Brawley Hughes founds the Arizona Suffrage Association.
🔹 Clubs are established across the territory to organize and educate.
📍 1893–1897
Multiple suffrage bills are introduced in the legislature—each is defeated in committee.
🔹 But momentum builds, slowly and steadily.
📍 1899
Frances Willard Munds joins the movement.
🔹 She’s elected secretary of the Arizona Territorial Woman’s Suffrage Association.
📍 1903
The Arizona Legislature passes a suffrage bill—but Governor Brodie vetoes it.
📍 1910
Arizona becomes a state.
🔹 Suffragists prepare to use the new initiative process to bring suffrage to the people.
📍 1912
Victory!
Arizona voters approve women’s suffrage by a 68% majority—far ahead of the federal government.
🔹 Arizona becomes one of the first states to enfranchise women by popular vote.
📍 1914
Frances Willard Munds becomes the first woman elected to the Arizona State Senate.
🔹 She champions education, consent law reform, and rural families.
📍 1920
The 19th Amendment is ratified nationally.
🔹 But many women—including Native American, Black, Latina, and Asian American women—remain disenfranchised through other laws.
📍 1924
The Indian Citizenship Act grants Native Americans U.S. citizenship.
🔹 Still, Arizona continues to block Native voting rights.
📍 1948
Arizona finally guarantees Native Americans the right to vote—after legal battles and decades of organizing.
🔹 The struggle for full voting rights continues.
🧠 Reflections:
- What voices do we hear in this timeline?
- What voices are missing or delayed?
- What does it mean to build democracy over time—not all at once?
Arizona Theatre Matters 