Washington territory re-enacts woman suffrage law to exclude women from juries on January 16, 1888.

  • By Mildred Andrews
  • Posted 12/08/1998
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 465
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On January 16, 1888, the territorial legislature re-enacts the suffrage law under a new title, "An Act to Enfranchise Women." Women regain the vote, but are no longer permitted to serve on juries.

Women constituted 38 percent of the electorate, and they had strong support among legislators for whom they had voted. Nevertheless, the legislature paid heed to the anti-suffragists' most emotional argument: that women should not serve on juries with men, because they would be exposed to discussions of sordid acts, such as sodomy, incest, and rape.


Sources:

Mildred Tanner Andrews, Washington Women as Path Breakers (Dubuque: Kendall/Hung, 1989), 3; T.A. Larson, "The Woman Suffrage Movement in Washington," Pacific Northwest Quarterly Vol. 67 (April, 1976), 42.


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