In August, America celebrates 100 years of voting rights for women with the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. By 1920 women in Idaho had already been voting in—and winning—elections for 24 years. The documentary explores how Idaho became the fourth state to grant women voting rights.
Most of the history about women’s voting rights focuses on the East Coast. However, Western states were leading the way. Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1870, followed by Colorado in 1893, then Utah and Idaho, both in 1896. Utah and Washington states granted women the right to vote earlier, then revoked the privilege. After Idaho, it took another 14 years for a state to grant suffrage to women.
Join Idaho Public Television and Idaho Women in Leadership for an online preview screening of the new Idaho Experience documentary "Ahead of Her Time: Women’s Suffrage in Idaho”. The half-hour screening will be immediately followed by a live Q and A with Emmy Award-winning documentarian Jennie Sue Weltner; Idaho Senator Cherie Buckner-Webb; Rebecca Scofield, Ph.D., assistant professor of twentieth-century American history at the University of Idaho; and NNU student leader Mariela Esquivel-Rodriguez. The discussion will be moderated by IdahoPTV producer Marcia Franklin, who did research and conducted interviews for the documentary.
The documentary is a partnership between Idaho Public Television, Idaho Women in Leadership, and the Idaho State Historical Society as a legacy project for Idaho Women 100.
Major funding for Idaho Experience is provided by the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation. Additional funding is provided by Anne Voillequé and Louise Nelson, Judy and Steve Meyer, the Futura Corporation, the Richard K. and Shirley S. Hemingway Foundation, the Friends of Idaho Public Television, the Idaho Public Television Endowment and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“Ahead of Her Time: Women’s Suffrage in Idaho” was independently produced by Jennie Sue Weltner with funding provided by Idaho Women in Leadership, the Pottenger Family Foundation, Zions Bank, Idaho Power, and Midas Gold.
