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March is Women’s History Month and 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most important milestones in the struggle for women to gain equal rights in America. On Aug. 18, 1920 the 19th Amendment, which reads, “the right of citizens of the U.S. to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” was ratified, decades after it was first introduced in Congress.

Across the nation and indeed in Michigan, the suffrage movement started well before 1920. Michigan women first petitioned for the ballot in the mid-19th Century, but many obstacles blocked their path. State suffragists endured several failures and setbacks.

In 1870 the Michigan State Suffrage Association formed in Battle Creek. That same year, a bill which would allow women to vote in municipal elections passed in the state legislature, only to be vetoed by Governor Henry Baldwin. Some women gained voting rights in school elections during the mid-19th Century. In 1867, the state legislature allowed for women who owned taxable property limited school board suffrage. In 1881, this statute expanded to include mothers of school-aged children.

Although Michigan women had the “school vote” early on, some were denied access to the polls. For example, in 1888 Flint mother Eva Belles tried to vote in a local school board election, but her ballot was refused because of her gender. Belles argued that the state legislature’s statute for school board elections specified that “every person” who met certain voting criteria, including age, parenthood, and property ownership “shall be entitled to vote in all questions arising in said district which do not directly involve the raising of money by tax.” Belles fought her case up to the Michigan Supreme Court and won. This was a milestone for women voting rights in the state, but the struggle for full suffrage continued.

In 1893, the state legislature passed a “Bill for Municipal Suffrage for Women.” The bill stated that “in all school, village and city elections, women who can read the state constitution printed in English, shall be allowed to vote for all school, village or city officers, and on all questions pertaining to school, village and city regulations, on the same terms and conditions as prescribed by law for male citizens, if able to read at least one section of the state constitution.”

To the dismay of the activists who petitioned for this right, the Supreme Court ruled against the bill for municipal suffrage, stating that the Michigan Constitution would need to change before the bill could pass.

Michigan suffragists experienced several more failed attempts to pass a referendum for women’s voting rights, but they persisted and won full voting rights in 1918. Michigan also became one of the first states to ratify the 19th Amendment, passing it on June 10, 1919. A little over a year later, the amendment would become law throughout the country.

In Niles the Women’s Progressive League formed in 1912 with a purpose to “work in civic improvement” and an objective of “the cultivation of higher ideals of civic life and beauty — the promotion of out-door art, public sanitation and the general welfare of the city.”

The Women’s Progressive League amended their constitution to include a suffrage committee in 1916 and sent representatives to meetings of the Berrien County Equal Suffrage Association.

The county association hosted regular talks and other events to educate on the benefits of granting women voting rights and encouraged more women to join their efforts.

According to a 1912 article from the St. Joseph Saturday Herald, Mrs. Helen B. McDowell, president of the Berrien County Equal Suffrage Association, stressed that “every woman should be a part of this movement.”  After Michigan ratified the 19th Amendment, the Women’s Progressive League also set out to register Niles women to vote.

While the passing of the 19th Amendment granted universal suffrage to women, in reality many were still denied voting rights, a continuation of the racism which existed within the suffrage movement. African American women were not always welcome in white-led suffrage organizations and events and so they formed their own groups.

Niles native Lottie Wilson was an artist and activist who petitioned for suffrage throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She also advocated for African American women’s rights among suffragists. Wilson served as a delegate to the 1899 National American Women’s Suffrage Association Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here she proposed an amendment protesting the policy of separate railroad coaches for African American women in the South.

After a lively discussion the amendment was ultimately tabled on the grounds that it did not directly relate to women’s suffrage! While Wilson’s proposal was brushed aside at the NAWSA convention, she received support that same year at the National Association of Colored Women’s convention in Chicago. There she reported on her experience in Grand Rapids and received overwhelming support and understanding.

Fort St. Joseph Museum is closed until Wednesday, April 15. For more information and updates on our re-opening date, please visit nileshistorycenter.org. The Niles History Center consists of the Chapin Mansion and Fort St. Joseph Museum, both located at 508 E. Main Street in Niles, Michigan.

Christina Arseneau is the director of the Niles History Center and can be reached at by calling (269) 845-4054, ext. 4010 or by email at HCdirector@nilesmi.org.