August 26, 2020 marks the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.
This simply stated Amendment -- The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex -- required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920.
Between 1878, when the amendment was first introduced in Congress, and August 18, 1920, when it was ratified, champions of voting rights for women worked tirelessly, using a variety of strategies. Some pursued a strategy of passing suffrage acts in each state — Colorado was the first state to ratify votes for women in 1893. Coloradoans then turned their activism towards a national referendum. They persisted and 100 years later we celebrate their sacrifices.
Celebrating Ellis Meredith (1865-1955), an American suffragist, journalist, and novelist. She was known as the Susan B. Anthony of Colordao. She attended the Women’s Congress in Chicago in 1893, and she convinced Susan B. Anthony to send organizer Carrie Chapman Catt to Colorado, saying, “If Colorado goes for woman suffrage, you may count on a landslide in that direction throughout the West.”
Meredith and her parents made significant contributions to Colorado. Her mother was a suffragist and her father was an editor for the Rocky Mountain News. In 1889, Meredith began writing a column for the News, titled “A Woman’s World.” She became the first Colorado woman to cover the State Legislature in 1894, and she was one of four female delegates to the 1902 Denver City Charter Convention, which drafted the City’s first charter. Meredith testified in 1904 before the U.S. House of Representatives in support of a Constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote. From 1904-1908, she served as Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party State Central Committee. A 1910 newspaper headline claimed Meredith was the first woman elected to office in Denver. She became the Election Commissioner with 20,997 votes – more than the combined total of votes cast for all seven of the men running for the same office. She died 1955.
After Colorado granted women the right to vote in 1893, Meredith became a national leader. She was a featured speaker and published in magazines including Atlantic Monthly, Twentieth Century Magazine, and The Woman Voter Magazine. She moved to Washington D.C. in 1917 to work at the National Democratic Headquarters.
This is a field puzzle. Standing at the posted coordinates you will see a historical plaque commenmorating the original location of the newspaper Ellis Meredith worked for. Look to the NE at the sign at the entrance to the Cherry Creek trail. What is the word on the 1st line of the sign? To receive the coordinates to the final (and a bonus hint) you must submit the 1-word answer in the checker below.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Update: Helen Reddy, who popularized the song, "I Am Woman," that this series was based on died on 29 September 2020. RIP Helen.
