October 2019 • Nebraskaland 35
Before a women's suff rage parade in Blair, July 11, 1914. History Nebraska RG1073-4
A 1917 limited-suff rage law allowed Nebraska women to
vote in some local elections – or would have, if it hadn't been
tied up in court. Anti-suff ragists used Nebraska's referendum
law to challenge it. They gathered enough petition signatures
to suspend the law until a statewide referendum.
Suff ragists suspected fraud. More than 18,000 of the
30,000 signatures had been gathered in Omaha. The river
city had long been notorious as a "wide-open" town full of
saloons, and it was ruled behind the scenes by crime boss
Tom Dennison.
The Nebraska Woman Suff rage Association demanded
to see the petitions and, sure enough, found whole pages of
signatures signed in the same hand, or listing fake addresses,
or signed with the names of dead men. It was never clear
exactly who was behind the fraud, but suff ragists were
certain that "liquor interests" played a role.
But it was almost a moot point by the time the women won
their court case in June 1919. The 19th Amendment was on
its way to becoming part of the U.S. Constitution. By then
Nebraska's statewide Prohibition law was already in eff ect
and the 18th Amendment (federal Prohibition) had been
ratifi ed.
Prohibition came fi rst, in other words. You couldn't blame
women voters for it. The 18th Amendment was repealed in
1933, and Nebraskans voted to repeal statewide Prohibition
the following year. By that time most people thought
Prohibition had been a mistake – but they took for granted
that women voters should have a say in the matter.
N
The exhibit Votes for Women: Nebraska's Suff rage Story is
at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln through January 2,
2021. history.nebraska.gov
Fred Bargemann's Saloon in Bancroft, before Prohibition.
History Nebraska RG3334-1-41
