Ada L. James to Lucy B. Johnston
Creator: James, Ada L.
Date: November 6, 1912
Ada James, President of the Political Equality League of Wisconsin, sent this telegram to Lucy Johnston, President of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association in Topeka, Shawnee County. James congratulated Johnston on the successful passage of a full suffrage amendment to the state constitution.

An act conferring upon women the right to vote
Creator: Kansas Legislature.
Date: 1893
In 1893, state senator Michael Senn sponsored Senate Bill 94, An Act conferring upon Women the Right to Vote, before the Kansas Legislature. The Judiciary Committee, chaired by A. W. Dennison, recommended to the Senate that the bill not be passed. Kansas women gained the right to vote in municipal elections in 1887, but it was not until 1912 that the state approved full female suffrage.

Anna Howard Shaw to Lucy B. Johnston
Creator: Shaw, Anna Howard, 1847-1919
Date: November 6, 1912
Anna Shaw, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, sent this telegram to Lucy Johnston, president of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, announcing that women in Kansas had gained the vote.

Child labor and woman suffrage
Creator: The Club Member
Date: January 1907
This brief article in The Club Member describes the problem of child labor, arguing that in states where women had the right to vote "child labor and illiteracy have ceased to be problems." This information is taken from an article called "Treason of the Senate" by David Graham Phillips.

Delegates to the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, Topeka, Kansas
Date: 1916
A photograph showing a group of delegates to the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association in Topeka, Shawnee County. This group voted to affiliate with the national association as support for a women's suffrage amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Kansas women had already won the right to vote in 1912.

Effie Frost to Lucy Johnston
Date: November 6, 1912
Effie Frost of Junction City, Geary County, wrote this letter to Lucy Johnston, President of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, about a recent state election in which women in Kansas gained universal suffrage. Frost was disappointed that the Democratic candidates were elected, but she felt confident that many Democrats did support suffrage. Frost was particularly concerned that women use the vote to destroy "all vice breeding places," mentioning a pool hall in particular. Frost also informs Johnston of her efforts to keep alive a children's Sunday school class in Verdi, Kansas

E. W. Hoch to Lilla Day Monroe
Creator: The Club Member
Date: July 1908
This eloquent letter, which serves as the frontspiece of the July 1908 issue, outlines E. W. Hoch's reasons for supporting women's suffrage. Hoch wrote that "the right to participate in government rests primarily, I think, upon the ability to contribute virtue and intelligence to government and that women possess this fundamental qualification." Above the letter is a formal portrait of Hoch. Lilla Day Monroe, the recipient of the original letter, was editor of The Club Member and an active supporter of women's rights.

He doesn't like female mayors
Date: January 28, 1888
In this newspaper article, the former city marshal of Argonia, Sumner County, Kansas, laments the election of Susanna Salter as mayor, saying that "female mayors are no good." In particular, he was frustrated that she asked him to close his poker room, and she also prevented the local druggist (pharmacist) from keeping alcoholic beverages in stock. He claims that "Mrs. Salter has just killed Argonia." Originally published in the Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Indiana, the article was republished in the Meade County Globe, Meade, Kansas, on January 28, 1888.

Kansas suffrage mass meetings for June
Creator: The Farmer's Wife
Date: May 1894
This article lists the upcoming suffrage meetings for June and their locations. The first section's meetings will have Carrie Chapman-Catt, Annie Diggs, and Theresa Jenkins as the speakers; the second section's meetings will be addressed by Susan B. Anthony, Anna Howard Shaw, Helen Kimber and Rachel Child.

Liberty or freedom
Creator: The Farmer's Wife
Date: November 1891
This brief article in the Populist paper The Farmer's Wife explains why Kansas women supported suffrage. According to the article, which quotes Benjamin Franklin, "they who have no voice or vote in the electing of representatives do not enjoy liberty."

Lilla Day Monroe
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
Lilla Day Monroe, 1858-1929, was a Kansas journalist who established and edited "The Club Woman" and "The Kansas Woman's Journal." As editor of "The Kansas Woman's Journal," Monroe solicited reminiscences of pioneer life from Kansas women, receiving hundreds of responses. She organized these reminiscences into a collection, and published many of them in the journal. She was also an active supporter of women's suffrage, being a member of the Kansas State Suffrage Association and serving as its president for several years.

Lilla Day Monroe and Lillian Mitchner
Date: Between 1890 and 1910
Lilla Day Monroe (left) was one of Topeka's leading citizens during the early part of the twentieth century. Over the course of her life, she served as president of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, editor of "The Club Member" and "The Kansas Woman's Journal," and as a founding member of the Good Government Club. Lillian Mitchner (right) was state president of the Kansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

Lucy B. Johnston to County Presidents of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association
Creator: Johnston, Lucy Browne, 1846-1937
Date: 1911
Lucy Johnston, President of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, wrote this letter to all the county presidents of this organization, explaining the three elements of their campaign for women's suffrage: membership extension, education, and press releases. The letter describes each of these actions and provides the names of the women in charge of each action. Johnston particularly emphasizes the importance of membership, stating that in California, house-to-house canvassing with membership cards played a major role in that state's acceptance of women's suffrage.

Lucy Browne Johnston
Creator: Leonard, J. H.
Date: Between 1911 and 1915
Lucy Browne Johnston, 1846-1937, was an active participant in several Kansas reform movements and organizations. She served as president of the Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs, and was involved in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, helping to gain the vote for Kansas women in 1912. She was married to William Agnew Johnston, Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.

Lucy Browne Johnston
Creator: Snyder
Date: Between 1900 and 1910
Lucy Browne Johnston, 1846-1937, was an active participant in several Kansas reform movements and organizations. She served as president of the Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs, and was involved in the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, helping to gain the vote for Kansas women in 1912. She was married to William Agnew Johnson, Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.

Luther M. Nellis to Lucy Johnston
Creator: Nellis, Luther M.
Date: November 7, 1912
This colorful postcard, sent by Luther M. Nellis of Los Angeles, California, congratulates Lucy Johnston on the successful passage of an amendment granting full suffrage to Kansas women. Nellis firmly believes that the female vote will have a positive impact on Kansans and applauds Johnston's work as president of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association.

Mass meeting! In the interest of the pending woman suffrage amendment
Creator: Kansas Equal Suffrage Association (1884-1913)
Date: 1894
This poster advertises a woman suffrage meeting in Wakeeney, Trego County, to be held on June 19th and 20th, 1894. The speakers were Carrie Chapman-Catt, Annie Diggs (a well-known Populist), and Theresa Jenkins. Women in Kansas did not gain full suffrage until 1912.

Mattie B. Hale to Lucy Johnston
Creator: Hale, Mattie B.
Date: 1911
Mattie B. Hale of Lacrosse, Rush County, wrote this letter to Lucy Johnston, president of the Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs, informing her of what was decided during the last district meeting. Hale was proud to announce that club women were eager to support women's suffrage. Women in Kansas would gain full suffrage in 1912.

Mrs. L. W. Therkelsen to Lucy B. Johnston
Creator: Therkelsen, Mrs. L. W.
Date: November 6, 1912
In this short letter, Mrs. L. W. Therkelsen, publicity chairman of the Oregon State Equal Suffrage Association, sends her congratulations to Lucy Johnston, President of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association, after the successful passage of a universal women's suffrage amendment to the Kansas state constitution. Therkelsen hoped that the amendment to the Oregon constitution, which was currently under consideration, would be equally successful. Oregon did eventually pass an equal suffrage amendment in 1912, becoming the third state that year to do so.

Nellie Cline
Date: Between 1921 and 1924
Nellie Cline, a native of Larned, Pawnee County, served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1921 to 1924. She is also credited with being the first female lawyer to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court.

Nellie Cline to Lucy Johnston
Creator: Cline, Nellie
Date: January 4, 1912
In this letter, Nellie Cline writes to Lucy Johnston regarding Cline's nomination as a representative on the legislative committee of the State Federation of Women's Clubs. Cline did not feel that she was qualified for the position and wanted to speak with Johnston in person. Cline did, however, feel that it was a very important position within the club movement because "now that we women have so nearly attained our suffrage we surely want to show the state, also the other states, that we can make good." Nellie Cline would later be elected to the Kansas House of Representatives and would serve from 1921 to 1924.

O. Gossard to Lucy Johnston
Date: November 2, 1912
O. Gossard, owner of a hardware and farm supply store in Oswego, Labette County, wrote this letter to Lucy Johnston regarding the upcoming election to determine whether or not Kansas women would gain universal suffrage. He assured her that he still supported women's suffrage because "every woman in the United States should have the same and Equal rights with every man in the U.S." He also promoted the cause of suffrage at a local meeting of Republicans.

Suffragists, Topeka, Kansas
Date: 1912
These suffragists are in Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs' automobile, going after the vote in Topeka, Kansas. The women are identified as: (l to r) Laura Clay, President of Kentucky Equal Rights Association; Lucy B. Johnston; Sarah A. Thurston; Helen Eacker; and Stella H. Stubbs. They were all members of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association.

Susanna Madora Salter
Date: 1880
A formal portrait of Susanna Madora Salter, 1860-1961, and her husband, Lewis Salter in 1880, during the first year of their marriage. Born March 2, 1860, in Belmont County, Ohio, Susanna Madora Kinsey moved to a Kansas farm with her parents in 1872. Eight years later, while attending the Kansas State Agricultural College, she met and married Lewis Salter. The couple soon moved to Argonia where she cared for their young children and became an officer in the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Nominated on the Prohibition Party ticket by several Argonia men as a joke, Salter surprised the group and received two-thirds of the votes. She was elected in April 4, 1887, just weeks after Kansas women had gained the right to vote in city elections. The 27-year-old woman knew more about politics than her detractors realized. She was the daughter of the town's first mayor. Her father-in-law, Melville J. Salter, was a former Kansas lieutenant governor. Although she apparently performed her job well, Salter never sought another elected office. Within a few years, the Salters moved to Oklahoma where the nation's first woman mayor died in 1961 at the age of 101.

Teachers' salaries
Creator: The Club Member
Date: December 1906
In this article, Elizabeth J. Hauser describes how the disparity between male and female teachers' salaries is due in large part to the fact that women do not have the right to vote. According to the author, in the states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho--where women did have full suffrage--teachers' salaries were higher overall and women received salaries equal to those of their male counterparts.