New Mexico ratified the 19th amendment on February 21, 1920. Woman’s Suffrage in the US was added to the constitution on August 26, 1920, Women’s Equality Day.
Adoption of the l9th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Adelina Otero-Warren, the niece of the popular head of the state’s Republican Party at the time helped lead Mexican American women into the political mainstream. Bilingual flyers and speeches in Spanish at public rallies brought support for suffrage among both men and women in the Hispanic communities. Otero-Warren enjoyed such a loyal following that she was chosen by Alice Paul to lead the state Congressional Union in 1917. Her mission was to bombard the New Mexico congressional delegation to win their support in the battle to pass the “Susan B. Anthony” (19th) Amendment. With her help the amendment passed through Congress and to the states for ratification. New Mexico women won full suffrage at last with the final ratification by the state legislature of the amendment in 1920.
New Mexico Websites:
Womens’ Suffrage Movement-1915
NM Humanities Council, has posted resources on “Women 2020.“ There are links to the Library of Congress primary sources, precious New Mexican articles from 1915 and 1916, the Alexander Street Suffrage Biographies, and much more. There’s also a YouTube panel discussion that Ellen Dornan did with Georgellen Burnett and Sylvia Ramos discussing the suffrage movement with a NM focus.
New Mexico and the 19th Amendment from the National Park Service
The Alfred M. Bergere House is an important place in the story of ratification. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Las Vegas Optic article about Senator Andrieus A. Jones from Las Vegas. He was very instrumental in getting the 19th Amendment through the U.S. House and Senate.
Text of HOUSE MEMORIAL 1 – 54th legislature – STATE OF NEW MEXICO – second session, 2020 INTRODUCED BY: Gail Chasey and Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Kelly K. Fajardo and Sheryl Williams Stapleton and Micaela Lara Cadena
The USA Today article on women in New Mexico.
Women of the West were the first in the United States to enjoy full voting rights. As new territories and states organized, many considered, and most granted, women the right to vote. Decades before passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, western women voted and served in public office.
NM PBS New Mexico and The Vote A Podcast with Megan Kamerick.
National Websites:
Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States
Enter “New Mexico” in the search field to read about women involved in the suffrage movement and research done in New Mexico
The 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative: For Quizzes, Exhibits, Calendar and Projects by state
National Women’s History Museum “Crusade for the Vote”
Turning Point – Suffragist Memorial
Click on Education toward right side of purple banner. Select from headings: AAUW and Suffrage, Suffragists in New Mexico, and others.
What Women’s Suffrage Owes to Indigenous Culture an article by Bridget Quinn from Yes Magazine
* This is a selective list from many suffrage related websites.