This week marks the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women in the United States the constitutional right to vote. The achievement followed decades of advocacy by women from across the country, who worked for equal rights alongside men.
In Arkansas, efforts to expand voting rights began soon after the Civil War. At the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention, delegate Miles Ledford Langley proposed a law that would have expanded voting rights to citizens over 21 who could read and write English. He also spoke about women’s suffrage, though his remarks were reportedly met with laughter.
Despite initial resistance, support for women’s suffrage grew in Arkansas through organizations such as the Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association, the Political Equality League, and the National Woman’s Party. In early 1917, State Representative John Riggs introduced legislation allowing women to vote in state primary elections. The bill passed both chambers of the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Charles Brough. That year, more than 40,000 women voted in primaries and over 50 female delegates were elected.
Arkansas became one of the early states to support ratification of the 19th Amendment, becoming the twelfth state to do so before it became federal law on August 26, 1920. Following this change, Arkansan women increased their participation in public life.
In 1929, Fannie Pearl Oldfield won a special election to represent Arkansas’s Second Congressional District after her husband’s death. She became Arkansas’s first woman elected to Congress and was one of only eight women serving at that time.
Hattie Ophelia Caraway was appointed in 1931 by Arkansas’s governor to fill her late husband’s seat in the U.S. Senate. She later became not only the first woman elected to serve a full term but also was reelected and presided over Senate sessions—a practice now common in Congress. Her portrait is displayed outside the U.S. Senate chamber as recognition of her contributions.
Reflecting on these events during this anniversary week, an official statement said: “As we celebrate this tremendous milestone in American history, I am proud to highlight our state’s specific contributions and commitment to fighting for all of the opportunities promised to every citizen of our nation. The 19th Amendment represents another significant realization of the Founders’ vision and our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
