Road to the Vote
"My name is my identity and must not be lost." ~Lucy Stone
Welcome to Road to the Vote: an interactive and immersive timeline of women's history in America from before the American Revolution to after the passage of the 19th Amendment.;xNLx;;xNLx;Navigate the timeline by dragging the grey box at the bottom of the screen to the colorful dots along the bottom. Click "more" to read about remarkable women, watch videos, find primary source documents, and listen to the women's ideas in their own words.
1701-06-03 17:45:05
Coverture
The common law of coverture limits women's rights and autonomy in the early republic.
1735-02-27 21:46:23
Elizabeth Drinker
A prominent Philadelphia Quaker petitions the new government to free her imprisoned husband and others.
1736-07-01 01:04:00
Annis Boudinot Stockton
Prominent New Jersey woman wonders if the public will scorn female writers.
1753-05-08 02:41:43
Phillis Wheatley
An enslaved woman becomes the first African American poet in America to publish.
1754-06-09 22:22:06
The Journal of Esther Edwards Burr
In a blink and you’ll miss it moment, Lin-Manuel Miranda calls this writer a “genius” in Hamilton: An American Musical.
1776-03-31 06:18:08
"Remember the Ladies."
Abigail Adams requests her husband, John, to include women in the new republic.
1776-07-02 18:14:08
The New Jersey Exception
A loophole in the New Jersey constitution allowed women and African Americans to vote years before the 19th and 15th amendments.
1790-04-01 01:04:00
"On the Equality of Sexes"
Judith Sargent Murray declares that the intellects of men and women are equal.
1792-01-15 18:14:08
"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."
An early feminist treatise is published which calls for treating women as equal to men.
1793-01-03 01:56:38
Lucretia Mott
She was nicknamed "The Lioness" for her ardent support of abolition and suffrage.
1793-05-15 09:37:42
Priscilla Mason
A young student publicly demands education equality for women at her own graduation ceremony.
1797-09-16 17:11:15
Sojourner Truth
Her powerful spoken-word poem "Ain't I a Woman" reverberates even today.
1802-02-11 22:56:50
Lydia Maria Child
Prolific author who supported abolition, women's rights, and Native American rights.
1810-01-25 20:05:13
Clara Howard Nichols
One of the first female activists to identify the lack of property rights for women as a major obstacle to equality.
1815-11-12 17:45:05
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The godmother of the Seneca Falls Convention and author of the Declaration of Sentiments.
1816-12-28 20:05:13
Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard
After being wrongly institutionalized, EPW Packard became an advocate for the mentally ill.
1818-08-13 21:56:57
Lucy Stone
This legendary leader committed her life to abolition and women’s rights, never sacrificing one for the other.
1820-02-15 10:21:12
Susan B. Anthony
Her legacy as a suffrage icon continues, though her relationships with women remain hidden.
1822-03-02 07:22:30
Harriet Tubman
The Underground Railroad’s most famous “conductor": she sought liberty on her own terms.
1823-04-03 04:47:30
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
The first Black female newspaper publisher in all of North America, she used her platform to speak about abolition and education.
1830-07-01 00:00:00
Godey's Lady's Book
Godey's Lady's Book was a fashion magazine aimed at women that promoted women's education and employment.
1838-09-23 23:48:23
Victoria Woodhull
The first woman to run for president, she declared that women should live without social restriction.
1848-07-19 21:23:06
Seneca Falls Convention
Leaders at this landmark event declared: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…”
1850-10-23 19:54:50
National Women's Rights Convention
More than 900 people attended this conference which was called an "insurrection in petticoats."
1852-06-05 00:50:17
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novel of slavery in the south brings the issues of enslavement and abolition into public view.
1858-08-10 23:26:47
Dr. Anna Julia Cooper
"The Mother of Black Feminism," she became a leading figure in American Education.
1859-01-09 18:43:52
Carrie Chapman Catt
She fought for women's rights in the U.S. and abroad while living life with her companion Mary Garret Hay.
1861-04-21 23:51:35
The Civil War interrupts suffrage efforts
Most formal organizing efforts in pursuit of suffrage are suspended. Many suffragists throw themselves into the War effort.
1862-07-16 18:39:18
Ida B. Wells
An advocate for Civil Rights; she brought attention to lynchings in America. *Trigger warning: racial and gendered violence.*
1863-03-30 00:00:00
Mary Whiton Calkins
Psychologist Mary Whiton Calkins known for being the first female president of the American Psychological Association.
1863-04-03 01:30:09
Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin
A Native American rights activist who proudly argued against cultural assimilation.
1864-05-05 17:29:33
Nellie Bly
Journalist, inventor, and industrialist best known for her hard-hitting expose of abuse at Blackwell's Island mental hospital.
1866-09-17 16:53:01
Mary Burnett Talbert
Orator, educator, activist, suffragist. She became an exemplar of Black female leadership.
1868-01-08 21:52:28
The Revolution
This newspaper was published by suffragist icons Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
1868-11-05 21:52:28
Vineland Ballotbox Protest
172 women in Vineland, New Jersey brought their own ballot box to the polls in protest.
1869-03-04 06:08:35
American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA)
Socially conservative suffragists create this organization in order to change voting legislation in individual states.
1869-05-15 18:56:19
National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA)
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the NWSA in opposition to the passage of the 15th Amendment.
1869-12-10 11:32:12
Contradictions on the Frontier
Wyoming grants suffrage, but many women were still disenfranchised.
1870-05-05 17:09:59
National Women's Party (NWP)
An organization which drew from the militant tactics of Suffragettes in the UK.
1870-05-07 13:21:35
Women's Journal
Founded by Lucy Stone, this publication became the voice of the movement.
1871-05-04 18:56:19
Anti-Suffrage Party
Prominent women organize to resist voting rights for women.
1872-11-02 05:43:46
Susan B. Anthony arrested
Susan B. Anthony casts her vote in the presidential election, resulting in her arrest and a trial.
1872-11-02 11:21:34
Sojourner Truth attempts to vote
Famed orator attempts to vote in the presidential election, but is turned away.
1875-07-09 00:28:27
Alice Dunbar Nelson
This suffragist and activist shaped the Harlem Renaissance.
1876-02-22 08:26:44
Zitkála-Šá
One of the most influential figures in the fight for Native American rights.
1876-07-04 17:46:55
Declaration of Rights for Women
Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joselyn Gage interrupt an event at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to present their declaration.
1881-10-23 17:23:11
Adelina Otero-Warren
A New Mexico activist becomes the godmother of her community and encourages Mexican Americans to vote.
1885-01-11 21:37:40
Alice Paul
Militant suffragist who fought for the 19th amendment and later penned the Equal Rights Amendment.
1889-10-02 14:44:44
Dr. Margaret Chung
The first Chinese American to become a physician, a tireless advocate for equal voting rights, and an LGBTQ icon.
1897-10-07 04:19:35
Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
As a teenager she led a suffrage parade on horseback.