With a band of women in floor-skimming dresses behind him, Gov. Asa Hutchinson spoke from the state Capitol steps Tuesday to commemorate the centennial of Arkansas women gaining the right to vote in state primaries.
Many of the state officials and representatives on hand dressed in white like the suffragettes did to pay homage to those women who fought for the right to vote in Arkansas.
Activists had been fighting for female suffrage since the Constitutional Convention of 1868 and were thwarted for nearly five decades, organizers said in a news release. Then, on Feb. 7, 1917, Rep. John Riggs, introduced legislation allowing women to vote in state primaries.
The Arkansas Gazette reported on the day lawmakers cast their ballots that the “suffrage call had gone out and the galleries were crowded with spectators including many women.” The House voted 71-19 and the Senate voted 17-15 in favor of the measure.
The bill was signed into law in March, 1917, by Gov. Charles Brough, making the state the first in the South to reach that milestone.
Hutchinson told the crowd on Tuesday that that fact “gives us a little bit of pride in our uniqueness and our independent thinking” compared to other southern states.
“I don’t think that has changed any. And I’m proud of that,” he added.
The governor also praised the suffragettes’ devotion to their cause and said their actions took courage.
“I’m delighted to celebrate that history, that struggle, the success and the contributions of extraordinary women in Arkansas history and American history,” Hutchinson said.