In the selections below, authors consider newspaper accounts and other primary source documents that address some major themes, people, groups and events in the movement for woman suffrage in Oregon. The entry for the 1912 Oregon Voters’ Pamphlet provides an introduction and a full transcription of the pages comprising the argument for woman suffrage presented by the members of the Oregon State Equal Suffrage Association, and the argument against woman suffrage presented by the members of the Oregon State Association Opposed to the Extension of the Suffrage to Women. The introduction provides some suggested themes to consider and ideas about how to interpret primary sources. Additional sections combine a close reading of newspaper articles with secondary source materials to interpret the significance of specific topics and groups in the 1912 suffrage campaign in Oregon. An introductory essay on “Using Newspapers as Primary Sources” discusses the importance of newspaper articles in researching the history of woman suffrage in Oregon and suggests important ways to use these primary sources for analyzing the past. The thematic essays that follow are also linked to news articles posted to this website. Click on the links in the essay to read the full newspaper articles with complete citations. Additional primary sources and secondary sources are listed at the close of the selection.
Suffrage Achieved: A View from the Mid-Willamette Valley
The 1912 Voter’s Pamphlet “For” and “Against” Arguments for Woman Suffrage
Using Newspapers as Primary Sources
Suffrage and Temperance: Differing Perspectives
Working for Suffrage: The Oregon Labor Community and the Achievement of Woman Suffrage in 1912
Abigail Scott Duniway’s Birthday Party, October 1912
Chinese American Women and Suffrage in Portland in 1912
The Impact of the College Equal Suffrage League on the Oregon Votes for Women Victory in 1912
The Portland Woman’s Club and the 1912 Campaign
Stenographers Equal Suffrage League of Oregon in 1912
Uniquely Oregonan: Everybody’s Equal Suffrage League in Oregon in 1912
Oregon’s Colored Women’s Equal Suffrage League and the 1912 Campaign
Viola (Mrs. Henry Waldo) Coe and Abigail Scott Duniway in the Oregon 1912 Woman Suffrage Campaign
The Grange and Woman Suffrage in Oregon
Mass Advertising and Popular Culture: Laying the Foundation for the Win of 1912
Together We Stand, Divided We Fall: Committee Disagreement in the Oregon 1912 Campaign
The Anti-Suffrage Movement in Oregon in 1912
The Men’s Equal Suffrage Club of Multnomah County in 1912
Portland Equal Suffrage League and the Council of Jewish Women in the 1912 Woman Suffrage Campaign
Actors and Theater: Bringing Performance to the Political Scene in Portland in 1912
Equal Suffrage in Eugene, Oregon in 1912