Jeanette Rankin's Suffrage Movement

Being a woman at the beginning of the twentieth century was extremely difficult, so when Jeanette Rankin decided she actually wanted to contribute to her community it wasn’t such an easy journey. Rankin started her education young, attending a public school, which, eventually lead to her college degree in teaching. Rankin never loved school and thought that there was so much more to learn from experiences and her family. While Jeanette became a teacher, following in her mother’s footsteps, Rankin came to the conclusion that having never loved school she felt that teaching was not the path for her. During a visit with her brother Wellington at Harvard, Rankin found inspiration. Rankin fully realized the great divide between the rich and the poor and became devoted to
Jeanette Rankin’s brother, Wellington, was very well connected and ended up financing her political activities including her efforts to secure voting rights for women and her campaign for congress. As time went on and Rankin continued to advocate for women’s rights, Rankin became quite a prominent figure in the movement for suffrage. She began making waves as a suffragist when she joined National American Women’s Suffrage Association. With her great influence over the suffrage campaign Jeanette commenced making speeches around Washington. Through Jeanette’s efforts and many others, the association helped women in Montana gain the right to vote. While this was a huge accomplishment this was just the beginning of Jeanette’s journey of suffrage. This win inspired her to pursue the avenue of running for congress where she ultimately hoped she could gain the right for all women to vote. In theory this would be a good idea but even those who had supported her through her campaigns rejected the idea of her running for congress thinking it would harm the cause. This didn’t deter Jeanette though she still decided to persevere and run