Women's History Consortium Themes Overview
The fight for permanent woman's suffrage in Washington, however, spans over 50 years in territorial and state history. Washington was the first
state in the 20th century and the fifth state in the Union to enact women’s suffrage. Washington women’s success in 1910 helped inspire the campaign
that culminated in passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, when women won the right to vote nationally.
The study of the history of Washington State's women's organizations provides a useful vehicle for understanding women’s contributions to our
past. Women who settled in the Pacific Northwest were quick to establish voluntary associations for self-improvement, charitable work, and
civic reform, especially from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1930s.
After Women's Suffrage was enacted in the state in 1910, Washington’s first women legislators were elected
in 1912 and served in the 1913 State Legislature. Washington has consistently been in the top five states for percentage of women legislators and
from 1993 to 2004 led the nation in percentage of Women State Legislators, and in 1999 and 2000 boasted a record-breaking 40.8 percent of the House
and Senate. In 2009, over 230 women have served in the Washington State Legislature since 1913.
During her 43 years in public office, Julia Butler Hansen became one of the greatest political figures Washington has ever known.
This WHC profile presents a brief biographical introduction and points visitors
to numerous resources available for further study.
Women in Washington State participated in the "second wave" of feminism of the late 20th century, beginning in 1963 when then Governor
Albert D. Rosellini appointed the first Commission on the Status of Women in Washington. Since then, Washington enacted a series of feminist
laws including legalizing abortion in early pregnancy in 1970, approving the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, as well as enacting Equal Credit for
Women in 1972 and No-Fault Divorce in 1973.