After Washington women won the right to vote in 1910, they immediately exercised their civic rights. By one count, voter registration in Washington nearly doubled. Women voted in equal numbers with men.

The new voters worked aggressively for progressive causes. From 1910 to 1920, women helped pass an impressive slate of bills related to alcohol consumption, prostitution, vice, working conditions, and the health and welfare of women and children.

Progressivism helped to drive legislative success. Progressivism was a political movement tied to ideas considered liberal, innovative or experimental at the time, such as shorter work days, workplace safety, and women's suffrage. In the decade after the Washington victory, voters enacted many of the election processes in place today — direct primaries, ballot initiatives, referendums and recall elections - all progressive causes.

When opponents of Seattle Mayor Hiram organized a recall election in 1911 (for purportedly favoring gambling and prostitution) they turned to women for support. Since one third of Seattle's new voters were women, the strategy worked. The recall election put Hiram out of his job.

Jury Service

One issue remained unresolved. Should women serve on juries? Objection to women jurors had kept suffrage from being passed in 1883. Some believed women were incompetent. Others worried about exposing them to the gory details of criminal trials. In response to aggressive lobbying from women, the legislature settled the matter. It specified in 1911 that all electors were eligible for jury duty.

Legislative Milestones

Between 1910 and 1920, the number of women voters and elected women legislators grew steadily. In 1912 Frances C. Axtell from Bellingham and Dr. Nena Jolidon Croake from Tacoma, were the first women elected to the House. Reba Hurn from Spokane was the first woman elected to the State Senate in 1923. Josephine Corliss Preston, elected in 1912 as Superintendent of Public Instruction, was the first woman elected to state-wide office. Early legislative accomplishments include new laws for the eight-hour day, benefits for abandoned women, teachers' pensions, and protection for victims of sexual assault. Washington has consistently been among the top five states in the percentage of women legislators.

A National "Dam-Breaker"

Washington's triumph inspired the national movement. It had been 14 years since a state had passed a women's suffrage bill. Three states failed in 1910. Washington was the dam-breaker. Within four years, seven states and one territory (Alaska) approved suffrage, giving women the right to vote.

Many copied Washington's tactics. Most southern and northeastern states still strongly opposed women's suffrage. To ensure votes for all women, suffragists believed that only an amendment to the U.S. Constitution would do. Ten years later, in 1920, the amendment passed. Women throughout the country had finally gained their undisputed right to vote.