Before 1917, the only states in the Union that granted the vote to women were in the West. Women were granted the right to vote in Wyoming Territory in 1869; Utah Territory in 1870; Washington Territory in 1883, state of Wyoming in 1890; Colorado in 1893 and in Utah in 1896. As a result: the first woman elected to Congress was Jeannette Rankin of Montana; first elected mayor was Mary Howard of Kanab, Utah; the first elected mayor of a major city was Bertha Landes of Seattle, Washington; the first elected governors were Miriam "Ma" Ferguson of Texas and Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming.
Often characterized in American history as the Civil War era and the start of the Industrial Revolution, this period was a time of especially great change for African American women such as Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth . Women of all shades had to fight for equal rights, and the struggle for woman suffrage was born.
Outlaw Women In History is proud to present in the following pages the ladies who will describe what it means TO BE AN AMERICAN :
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