Beyond Suffrage Intersectionality and Suffrage: When Did All Women Achieve Voting Rights in Oregon? Foundational Lesson This curriculum may be successfully used with or without a museum visit. Developed by Sarah Anderson in consultation with OHS staff and advisory board. Beyond Suffrage Overview Students study a timeline of voting rights for women to learn when different groups of women achieved suffrage in Oregon. Students then apply their findings to specific women in Oregon from 1912. Learning Objectives › Students understand that not all women were able to vote in Oregon in 1912. › Students can explain how citizenship and voting rights in the U.S. and Oregon have historically been closely tied to race and ethnicity. › Students comprehend that traditionally marginalized groups have had to struggle throughout American history to expand citizenship eligibility and that the fight to protect voting rights continues. Guiding Questions › How have federal and state policies defined who is eligible for citizenship in the United States? How has it changed over time? › What is the relationship between state and federal immigration policies? › How do race, ethnicity, and nationality intersect with gender in the struggle for political power? Background The 1912 amendment to the Oregon Constitution granted woman Information suffrage, but not all women in Oregon had the privileges of citizenship and therefore could not exercise the newly won right. First-generation Japanese and Chinese women were prohibited from becoming American citizens in the early 20th century, and therefore, could not vote (see Citizenship and Voting Rights Timeline). However, their children gained citizenship through the 14th amendment, and would be able to vote. Because of federal immigration laws, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, there were very few Chinese women living in Oregon during the early 20th century, and the Japanese female population was still small and mostly made up of first-generation immigrants. “After the 1907–1908 Gentlemen’s Agreement between Japan and the United States allowed family members to immigrate, the number of Issei (Japanese immigrant) women in Oregon increased from 294 in 1910 to 1,349 in 1920.” (The Oregon Encyclopedia) Voting rights for Indigenous women may have depended on their individual situation, and whether or not they or their family had acquired citizenship through the Dawes Act. Oregon Historical Society Nevertheless, They Persisted Curriculum • Page 2 Background Note that the Dawes Act was a method for further reducing Information Indigenous land-holdings and was predicated on the assumption (continued) that Indigenous populations would continue to decrease. Other Indigenous women or mixed-race women may have passed as white, married white men, integrated into mainstream Oregon society, and accepted voting rights in 1912. The Indian Citizenship Act (Snyder Act) of 1924 offered citizenship to Native Americans, but it left voting rights up to states. The same year, Oregon voters approved a literacy test as a prerequisite for voting rights that would have impacted both Indigenous and first-generation immigrant voters. The literacy test remained in the Oregon Constitution until it was overridden by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. Although such barriers prevented all Indigenous women from full U.S. citizenship, many Indigenous women were able to vote and serve in their tribal governments. Even though the Oregon Constitution explicitly restricted voting to white males, it was overridden by the 15th amendment (which Oregon did not vote to ratify). As far as Oregon historians can tell, both white and black women were able to acquire voter registration cards and cast ballots after 1912. This is different from the American South, where states had created restrictions to prevent black citizens from voting, making the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution inaccessible for black women. There is little to no research on how suffrage impacted Latina voters, simply because there weren’t many Latina residents in the state of Oregon in the early 20th century: “The 1910 Oregon Census reports that no Mexicans or Latinos lived in Oregon, but the issuance of money orders to Mexico from Oregon indicates that at least fifty Mexicans were in the state in 1900 and eighty-five in 1910.” (“Latinos in Oregon” Essay, The Oregon Encyclopedia). It is uncertain how many of that number were women. However, recent research into the 1920 census has identified Mexican American women citizens in Oregon who would have been eligible to register to vote. Before teaching this lesson, your students should have background knowledge of both the 14th and 15th amendments. This article from history.com for you and/or your students explains the history of birthright citizenship (leading up to and including the 14th amendment). Here is a short clip for you and/or your students reviewing the 15th amendment: Sound Smart: the 15th Amendment with historian Yohuru Williams. Oregon Historical Society Nevertheless, They Persisted Curriculum • Page 3 Delivery Time Two 45-minute class periods Vocabulary › Citizenship: being a legally recognized subject of a state or nation, whether by birth or by naturalization › Emigrate: leave one’s own country in order to settle permanently in another (noun form: emigration) › Franchise: the right to vote › Immigrate: come to live permanently in a foreign country (noun form: immigration) › Intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categories such as race, class, and gender; these often create overlapping experiences of discrimination or disadvantage › Naturalization: the process or act of giving citizenship to a foreigner in a country › Primary Source: information about an event or time in the past made by someone who lived during that time and learned about or participated in the event or time. Some examples include a letter, speech, or artifact, such as a basket or shoe, as long as they were made or used by the person at that time. › Ratification: the action of signing or giving formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, making it officially valid › Secondary Source: information about an event or time in the past that was created after the fact by someone who did not experience it first-hand or participate in the events or time. Some examples include scholarly books and articles as well as reference books, such as encyclopedias. › Suffrage: the right to vote in political elections Materials Needed › Citizenship and Voting Rights Timeline (with links to primary and secondary documents) › When Did Women Achieve Voting Rights in Oregon? blank table › Who Could Vote in Oregon in 1912? Student handout › Slideshow introducing the six women from the student handout Step by Step Step One: Instructions Oregon changed the constitution in 1912 to strike out the word “male” to describe who had suffrage rights. Does that mean all women in Oregon were able to vote starting in 1912? Why would or wouldn’t that be true? Oregon Historical Society Nevertheless, They Persisted Curriculum • Page 4 Step by Step Step Two: Instructions Hand out Citizenship and Voting Rights Timeline and When Did (continued) Women Achieve Voting Rights in Oregon? blank table. If possible, you could also share the timeline as an electronic document and students can use hyperlinks to learn more about laws and amendments. Otherwise, you may wish to print some of the hyperlinked pages and have them available for further investigation. Students use the timeline to fill in the blank table with the year of acquired suffrage and notes about why. Step Three: Tell students that you are going to show them a slideshow highlighting different Oregon women in 1912. Distribute Who Could Vote in Oregon in 1912? student handout. Tell students that they are going to use this sheet to make their guess about whether or not each woman had suffrage rights. They can use the timeline and table for reference. Step Four: Show the slideshow, one woman at a time. Students find out preliminary information about each woman, consult their table, and then write their answers on their sheets before you turn to the following slide, revealing the answer. Step Five: Discussion: › What do you notice about the relationship between citizenship and voting rights throughout U.S. history? › What did you learn about women’s voting rights in Oregon that you didn’t know before? What surprised or didn’t surprise you? › What do you notice about federal legislation concerning citizenship versus state legislation? How did they interact with and affect each other? › How do you think different women experienced the suffrage victories of 1912 (Oregon) and 1920 (United States)? Were they celebrated by all women? Are they still? Assessments Completed handouts from slideshow activity. Oregon Historical Society Nevertheless, They Persisted Curriculum • Page 5 Teacher Notes Students may struggle with the “maybe” answers to the slideshow quiz, but that is further evidence of the complexity around the questions of citizenship and voting rights. Let them know that it is completely okay to start their written evidence with “It depends….” This lesson references the racist origin of the state’s constitution and other founding laws. › For a comprehensive set of lessons on this topic, see the Experience Oregon curriculum for grades 6–8 in which students analyze the lasting legacy of Oregon legislation in relation to its current racial diversity. › For more about Oregon and the 15th amendment: The Oregon Encyclopedia. › For more about Oregon and the 14th amendment: “Race, Politics, and Denial: Why Oregon Forgot to Ratify the 14th Amendment” by Cheryl A. Brooks. Support for All › Instead of having students fill in the table, you can give them the Students timeline and this When Women Achieved Voting Rights in Oregon completed table to study and highlight. › Have students work in different “expert” groups, each researching the voting rights of just one group of women. That expert group can serve as teachers during the slide show portion of the lesson.