This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Missouri. Women's suffrage in Missouri started in earnest after the Civil War. In 1867, one of the first women's suffrage groups in the U.S. was formed, called the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri. Suffragists in Missouri held conventions, lobbied the Missouri General Assembly and challenged the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The case that went to SCOTUS in 1874, Minor v. Happersett was not ruled in the suffragists' favor. Instead of challenging the courts for suffrage, Missouri suffragists continued to lobby for changes in legislation. In April 1919, they gained the right to vote in presidential elections. On July 3, 1919, Missouri becomes the eleventh state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
19th century
St. Louis County Woman Suffrage Association advert May 27, 1870
1860s
1866
December: Senator B. Gratz Brown of Missouri states publicly that he is for universal suffrage for anyone, regardless of "race, color, or sex."[1]
Women petition the Missouri General Assembly to remove the word "male" from the description of a voter in the state constitution.[2]
The St. Louis County Woman Suffrage Association sends a "memorial" to the United States Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to support women's suffrage.[12]
1871
Women meet with politicians, including Governor B. Gratz Brown, when the Missouri General Assembly comes back into session.[13]
February 3: The Minor case is heard in the Old Courthouse and lost. They appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court.[15]
May 7: The Minor case is heard at the Missouri Supreme Court. The court decides that the Fourteenth Amendment only applies to newly freed slaves. The Minors appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).[15]
1875
In Minor v. Happersett, SCOTUS rules that the United States Constitution does not confer suffrage and until new laws were written, women would not vote in the United States.[15][9][16]
Women attempted to get a constitutional amendment for women's suffrage in the state constitutional convention, but failed.[12]
The Columbia Equal Suffrage League canvasses house-to-house to promote women's suffrage and record the number of people supporting women's suffrage.[3]
Emily Newell Blair becomes the first editor of the first suffrage journal in the state, Missouri Woman.[38]
1915
Suffrage magazine, The Missouri Woman, is first published.[39]
1916
The Missouri Woman magazine cover "Votes for Women" June 1916
Suffragists lobby the Missouri General Assembly for a Presidential Suffrage bill.[40]
February: Emily Newell Blair meets with suffrage leaders in Missouri to work out new strategies for protest.[41]
June: During the Republican National Convention, suffragists sent telegrams to the Missouri electors and urged them to support women's suffrage.[44]
1917
February: Suffragists petition the Missouri General Assembly for limited suffrage.[45]
May: The state women's suffrage convention took place in Kansas City.[46]
1919
Helen Guthrie Miller speaks to the Missouri Democratic Convention on women's suffrage, becoming the first women to speak to a Missouri political party.[47]
January 8: State Representative Walter E. Bailey of Joplin proposes a presidential suffrage bill in the Missouri General Assembly called "Bill One."[48]
March: The Missouri General Assembly passes the Presidential Suffrage Bill.[3]
March: NAWSA holds their Golden Jubilee Convention in St. Louis.[3][49]
