1848: First Women’s Rights Convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York
1853: Washington Territory separates from Oregon, March 3, 1853.
1854: Women’s suffrage legislation is introduced during the first session of the Washington Territorial Legislature. It fails on a vote of 8 to 9.
1869: Mary Olney Brown and her daughter attempt unsuccessfully to vote at White River, King County.
1870: Three Thurston County women succeed in voting at Grand Mound, and two more at the precinct in Littlerock. Women attempting to vote in nearby Olympia are turned away from the polls.
1871: Washington Territorial Legislature passes a law giving every inhabitant the right to vote in school meeting elections.
1872: Susan B. Anthony is tried and convicted of casting an illegal vote in Rochester, New York
1878: Northwest suffragist Abigail Scott Duniway presents a petition signed by 600 Washington women and men to the first Washington Constitutional Convention asking that the word male be omitted from the new constitution. The request is denied on a vote of 7 to 8. A separate proposal for the inclusion of women’s suffrage also fails.
1883: The Washington Territorial Women’s Suffrage Act passes both houses of the legislature.
1884: Catharine Paine Blaine registers to vote in Seattle. Wyoming and Utah are the only other Territories permitting women to vote.
1885: Women of Washington lose the right to vote when the Washington Territorial Supreme Court rules that the title of the 1883 Suffrage Act did not adequately describe the Act’s content.
1887: The Territorial Legislature passes the women’s suffrage law for a second time.
1888: The Territorial Supreme Court, after hearing a case from Spokane, rules that U.S. territories do not have the authority to extend the vote to women. Washington women lose their voting rights again.
1889: Women, no longer enfranchised, are unable to vote for electors to the Washington State Constitutional Convention. Activists from Olympia petition the Convention to include women’s suffrage in the new State Constitution, but women are given the right to vote only in school elections.
1897: Populist/Fusionist Reformers pass a bill in the Washington State Legislature to amend the State Constitution to give women the vote. When the issue goes on the statewide ballot for ratification the following year, it fails.
1908: 60th Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention
1909: The Washington State Legislature passes an amendment to the State Constitution allowing women’s suffrage. The amendment must be approved by the male voters of Washington.
1910: The Fifth Amendment to the Washington State Constitution, giving women the right to vote in all state and local elections, passes on November 8, 1910 and is signed into law three weeks later.
1920: The Washington State Legislature ratifies the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Washington is the second to last state needed to take it over the top.
1943: Washington became the third state to enact an equal pay law.
1959: Catherine May is the first woman elected to Congress from Washington.
1963: Washington Legislature formally repeals the prohibition on women holding public office.
1963: Washington Governor Rosellini appoints a 29 member Commission on the Status of Women in Washington.
1968: Governor Dan Evans reconstitutes the commission on the Status of Women in Washington.
1970: Washington Voters approve Referendum 20 which legalized abortion in early pregnancy. The measure passed by 4,222 votes out of 1,509, 402 votes cast.
1970: Governor Dan Evans creates the Interagency Advisory Committee on the Status of Women with instructions to determine how many recommendations of the Commission on the Status of Women had been carried out.
1971: Sex is added to the employment section of the Washington State Law Against Discrimination (RCW 49.60) HB 594
1971: Women can sue for personal injuries in their own name and manage their own salaries.
1971: A reconstituted Washington State Women’s Council is appointed by Governor Dan Evans. This was a recommendation of the Interagency Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
1972: League of Women Voters, Status of Women in Washington State is published.
1972: Washington State Voters ratify an Equal Rights Amendment to the Washington State Constitution.
1972: Washington legislature passes a community property measure that requires that ownership and management of assets be equally shared between married partners.
1972: Washington legislature passes a law allowing a married woman to sue for personal injury in her own name.
1972: Washington legislature passes legislation so that women can have their own credit rating separate from that of their husbands.
1973: March 22, 1973 Washington legislature ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
1973: Washington legislature passes no fault divorce.
1973: HB 404 Expanded Washington State Law Against Discrimination by added sex and Marital status to the existing categories of employment, real estate, insurance and credit.
1973: New categories are added to Washington State Job Classifications to bridge the gap between clerical and professional positions, the first in the nation.
1973: Creation of the Roster of Qualified Women by the Washington Women’s Council which created a pool of women for gubernatorial appointments to Boards.
1974: Study on Comparable Worth completed and Submitted to Governor Dan Evans.
1975: Washington Bans sex discrimination in text books and audio visual materials for public school teachers and students.
1975: State Personnel Office changes procedures to recognize volunteer service as work experience on state job applications.
1975: Washington legislature passes a revised Rape Law.
1975: Governor reconstitutes Washington State Women’s Council.
1976: The Tax Reform Act of 1976 allows tax credits for child care.
1976: Dixie Lee Ray is elected Washington’s Woman First Governor.
1976: Phase II of Comparable Worth study completed. Study reveals that overall, women were receiving 20% lower pay than men for comparable work.
1976: Changes in policy of leasing public lands organizations that did not allow women to lease lands.
1976: Dual listing of both husband and wife names in telephone books adopted by Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission.
1977: Washington State Apprenticeship Council includes women in affirmative action plans.
1977: Washington State Women’s Commission legislation is passed by the Legislature creating a cabinet level organization.
1977: Publication of Women and the Law in Washington State legal handbook.
1977: Displaced Homemaker Law.
1977: Victims of Sexual Assault Bill
1977: Washington State Creditors must report credit to reflect participation of both spouses.
1977: July Washington State Conference for Women in Ellensburg part of the state’s participation in International Women’s Year.
1977: November Referendum 40 passed in Washington which was a vote against the creation of the Washington State Women’s Commission.
1978: Governor Dixie Lee Ray determines in April that the Women’s Council would be phased out by September 1, 1978.
1983: Washington State Comparable Worth Lawsuit in Federal Court.
1983-84: Salary adjustment reflecting Comparable Worth be included in salary survey package. Required it be achieved by 1993.
1985: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses lower Washington Court decision on Comparable Worth.
1985: Legislature appropriates additional funds for comparable worth and negotiations between the state and WFSE. Settlement is reached on December 1985.
1986: Comparable worth agreement between Washington State and WFSE ratified in 1986 by the legislature. The $482 million settlement benefited 34,000 state employees.
1991: Initiative 120 is approved which repealed the former abortion rights initiative and replaced it with one that declares that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions. (RCW, Chapter 9.02, Initiative Measure No. 120 1991)
1992: The Washington legislature sets a national record with the highest proportion of elected female lawmakers of any state in the country.
2003: When Justice Mary E. Fairhurst was sworn into office on January 13, it was the first time in Washington State history that the Supreme Court had a female majority.
2004: Washington’s Second Woman Governor, Christine Gregoire is elected. In 2005, Washington State became the first state to have, at the same time, a woman governor (Chris Gregoire) and two women U.S. Senators (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell).
2005: Women’s History Consortium Established.
2008: Christine Gregoire re-elected as governor.