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760 Votes Short: Michigan Women’s Fight for the Ballot
Season 7
Episode 34
Published 1 week ago
Description
Michigan women spent decades pressing for a voice at the ballot box. In 1912, a state suffrage amendment failed by just 760 votes. This episode follows Sojourner Truth, Mary T. Lathrop, Emily Burton Ketcham, Clara Arthur and Anna Howard Shaw through petitions, political setbacks and organizing across the state.
It also examines Gov. Albert E. Sleeper’s 1917 measure, which gave women a limited vote for president before the 19th Amendment set a national constitutional guarantee. In 1918, Michigan voters approved full state suffrage. A year later, the Legislature unanimously ratified the 19th Amendment. The long campaign—and the barriers that remained—reshaped voting rights in Michigan and across the nation.
The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications
It also examines Gov. Albert E. Sleeper’s 1917 measure, which gave women a limited vote for president before the 19th Amendment set a national constitutional guarantee. In 1918, Michigan voters approved full state suffrage. A year later, the Legislature unanimously ratified the 19th Amendment. The long campaign—and the barriers that remained—reshaped voting rights in Michigan and across the nation.
The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of Thumbwind Publications