1915 Pennsylvania Amendment 1
Referendum on women's suffrage
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1915 Pennsylvania Amendment 1 was a proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The amendment was defeated in a 46.63% to 53.37% vote, with a bare majority of 34 out of 67 counties voting against.
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November 2, 1915
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Background
In March 1915, Pennsylvania's legislature passed a bill that added the referendum to the November 1915 ballot.
In the lead up to the election, Hannah Patterson made calls for a Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Party Convention to take place in Harrisburg, in order to plan out the final push to get out the vote. Attendants of the convention included Suffrage Party leaders and legislative leaders.
The calendar developed at the convention was as follows:
"May and June 1915: Open-air work, especially street meetings to continue through the summer and fall. July 1915: auto tours of rural sections. August 1915: suffrage booths at county fairs. September 1915: Headquarters at full strength so that the climax of the campaign â a house to house canvass of registered voters â can be carried out effectively".[1]
Viewpoints
Legislators
Democrat Joseph H. Guffey: "I strongly favor woman suffrage. I shall vote to give the women of Pennsylvania the ballot and I shall give them all the personal support in my power."[2]
Results
33 counties voted in favor, and 34 voted against. The highest level of support for the amendment came from McKean County, with 74.05% in favor, and the lowest level came from Snyder County, with 26.30% in favor.[3]
The following table details the results by county:[3]
| County | Yes | No | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | |
| Adams | 1,279 | 30.55 | 2,908 | 69.45 |
| Allegheny | 50,557 | 51.54 | 47,539 | 48.46 |
| Armstrong | 3,277 | 55.88 | 2,587 | 44.12 |
| Beaver | 5,710 | 65.69 | 2,982 | 34.31 |
| Bedford | 1,396 | 30.53 | 3,176 | 69.47 |
| Berks | 7,302 | 35.35 | 13,355 | 64.65 |
| Blair | 6,857 | 54.41 | 5,745 | 45.59 |
| Bradford | 4,065 | 68.62 | 1,859 | 31.38 |
| Bucks | 3,349 | 32.08 | 7,090 | 67.92 |
| Butler | 4,795 | 56.71 | 3,660 | 43.29 |
| Cambria | 7,583 | 53.92 | 6,480 | 46.08 |
| Cameron | 325 | 62.86 | 192 | 37.14 |
| Carbon | 2,685 | 46.95 | 3,034 | 53.05 |
| Centre | 2,330 | 40.72 | 3,392 | 59.28 |
| Chester | 7,429 | 55.18 | 6,035 | 44.82 |
| Clarion | 2,158 | 58.37 | 1,539 | 41.63 |
| Clearfield | 4,999 | 63.89 | 2,825 | 36.11 |
| Clinton | 2,004 | 54.72 | 1,658 | 45.28 |
| Columbia | 2,402 | 47.53 | 2,652 | 52.47 |
| Crawford | 4,736 | 64.59 | 2,596 | 35.41 |
| Cumberland | 2,442 | 35.80 | 4,379 | 64.20 |
| Dauphin | 7,549 | 44.96 | 9,242 | 55.04 |
| Delaware | 8,147 | 46.89 | 9,229 | 53.11 |
| Elk | 1,276 | 36.54 | 2,216 | 63.46 |
| Erie | 7,123 | 60.27 | 4,695 | 39.73 |
| Fayette | 6,915 | 55.83 | 5,470 | 44.17 |
| Forest | 674 | 72.24 | 259 | 27.76 |
| Franklin | 2,958 | 45.82 | 3,498 | 54.18 |
| Fulton | 473 | 35.43 | 862 | 64.57 |
| Greene | 1,694 | 45.01 | 2,070 | 54.99 |
| Huntingdon | 1,789 | 42.90 | 2,381 | 57.10 |
| Indiana | 2,639 | 53.96 | 2,252 | 46.04 |
| Jefferson | 4,572 | 66.12 | 2,343 | 33.88 |
| Juniata | 527 | 27.21 | 1,410 | 72.79 |
| Lackawanna | 11,319 | 56.64 | 8,666 | 43.36 |
| Lancaster | 6,554 | 32.94 | 13,343 | 67.06 |
| Lawrence | 5,020 | 63.96 | 2,829 | 36.04 |
| Lebanon | 1,511 | 26.41 | 4,211 | 73.59 |
| Lehigh | 4,184 | 28.74 | 10,373 | 71.26 |
| Luzerne | 14,639 | 56.00 | 11,500 | 44.00 |
| Lycoming | 4,222 | 46.85 | 4,790 | 53.15 |
| McKean | 3,321 | 74.05 | 1,164 | 25.95 |
| Mercer | 6,329 | 67.86 | 2,997 | 32.14 |
| Mifflin | 1,179 | 42.78 | 1,577 | 57.22 |
| Monroe | 926 | 41.86 | 1,286 | 58.14 |
| Montgomery | 8,709 | 40.07 | 13,024 | 59.93 |
| Montour | 718 | 42.97 | 953 | 57.03 |
| Northampton | 4,383 | 35.94 | 7,814 | 64.06 |
| Northumberland | 6,110 | 50.41 | 6,010 | 49.59 |
| Perry | 1,051 | 33.24 | 2,111 | 66.76 |
| Philadelphia | 77,247 | 38.67 | 122,519 | 61.33 |
| Pike | 341 | 42.41 | 463 | 57.59 |
| Potter | 2,030 | 67.46 | 979 | 32.54 |
| Schuylkill | 6,726 | 46.40 | 7,769 | 53.60 |
| Snyder | 595 | 26.30 | 1,667 | 73.70 |
| Somerset | 2,634 | 40.09 | 3,937 | 59.91 |
| Sullivan | 463 | 48.58 | 490 | 51.42 |
| Susquehanna | 2,779 | 64.24 | 1,547 | 35.76 |
| Tioga | 2,912 | 63.08 | 1,704 | 36.92 |
| Union | 641 | 37.77 | 1,056 | 62.23 |
| Venango | 4,464 | 65.06 | 2,397 | 34.94 |
| Warren | 2,616 | 67.82 | 1,241 | 32.18 |
| Washington | 7,215 | 56.73 | 5,504 | 43.27 |
| Wayne | 1,731 | 58.50 | 1,228 | 41.50 |
| Westmoreland | 12,421 | 52.40 | 11,281 | 47.60 |
| Wyoming | 994 | 52.37 | 904 | 47.63 |
| York | 5,348 | 30.67 | 12,090 | 69.33 |
| State total | 385,348 | 46.63 | 441,034 | 53.37 |
Later events
On June 24, 1919, Pennsylvania's legislature voted to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. On August 18, 1920, the 36th state needed for ratification approved the amendment. The U.S. Secretary of State certified the amendment on August 26, 1920.[4]