In 1893 Colorado gave women the right to vote, the first time in history that women’s suffrage was granted through a popular vote. The very next year voters sent three women to the state House of Representatives. They were the first women elected to any state legislative body in the world. And in recent years, Colorado has led the nation in percentage of women serving in the state legislature. (In 2017, Colorado dropped from first in the nation at 42% to second at 39%, just behind Vermont.)
While Colorado women have been pioneers in holding elected office, there has never been a female Governor or U.S. Senator from Colorado.
The elected women of Colorado were at the forefront of some of the most important historical events of the Twentieth Century, from serving as a model for the national suffrage movement to advocating, protesting and legislating on workers’ and women’s rights. Colorado’s longest serving female legislator, Ruth Stockton, summed it up when she said “When the going gets rough, they know I’m not the weak sister.”
The team behind the film has conducted 76 interviews with women who have served in elected office, journalists, and experts on women’s history, western history and gender politics. These interviews serve as the film’s narration and will also serve as an oral history of Colorado’s unique story for generations to come.
