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Date: 1913

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Date: 1946

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Date: 1974

California’s first Constitutional Convention was held in Monterey in 1849. The original constitution, published in both English and Spanish the same year, was written by 48 delegates on nineteen pages of parchment. Article II, The Right to Suffrage stipulates that only white males have the right to suffrage.

Date: 1849

A Transcript of Appeal is the official written record of a trial, used by a higher court to review the lower court's proceedings. Ellen Van Valkenburg began an important legal battle for women’s enfranchisement in California on July 21, 1871, when she requested that Santa Cruz County Clerk Albert Brown enter her name in the Great Register of voters. After Brown (a willing accomplice in helping her bring the case to court) refused to register her, Van Valkenburg and her lawyer, Santa Cruz Judge Albert Hagan, began legal proceedings by requesting a writ of mandamus, a judicial remedy used to compel agencies to perform ministerial acts, such as registering voters. Van Valkenburg and Hagan argued her case by citing the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The new amendment, ratified 3 years earlier in 1868, defined all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. as citizens protected by civil rights. Van Valkenburg and Hagan asserted that American women were considered citizens under this amendment, and that citizenship automatically granted absolute rights, including the right to vote. The case first went to California’s Third District Court. Many of America’s most prominent suffragists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, were with Van Valkenburg in Santa Cruz when the lower court ruled against her on August 16, 1871. Van Valkenburg and Hagan swiftly appealed this decision through the Supreme Court of California. In the end, the Supreme Court of California upheld the lower court’s verdict under the reasoning that as a white American woman, Van Valkenburg already had citizenship and civil rights prior to the passage of the 14th amendment, and that the 14th amendment did not provide her with any additional political rights, such as the right to vote. While Van Valkenburg lost her case, and subsequent lawsuits failed to secure women's suffrage nationwide, the case stands as a critical early example of legal advocacy for women's political rights in California.

Date: September 23, 1871

A Brief of Respondent is filed in the appellate court by the party who won in the previous trial and defends the lower court’s original decision. Ellen Van Valkenburg began an important legal battle for women’s enfranchisement in California on July 21, 1871, when she requested that Santa Cruz County Clerk Albert Brown enter her name in the Great Register of voters. After Brown (a willing accomplice in helping her bring the case to court) refused to register her, Van Valkenburg and her lawyer, Santa Cruz Judge Albert Hagan, began legal proceedings by requesting a writ of mandamus, a judicial remedy used to compel agencies to perform ministerial acts, such as registering voters. Van Valkenburg and Hagan argued her case by citing the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The new amendment, ratified 3 years earlier in 1868, defined all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. as citizens protected by civil rights. Van Valkenburg and Hagan asserted that American women were considered citizens under this amendment, and that citizenship automatically granted absolute rights, including the right to vote. The case first went to California’s Third District Court. Many of America’s most prominent suffragists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, were with Van Valkenburg in Santa Cruz when the lower court ruled against her on August 16, 1871. Van Valkenburg and Hagan swiftly appealed this decision through the Supreme Court of California. In the end, the Supreme Court of California upheld the lower court’s verdict under the reasoning that as a white American woman, Van Valkenburg already had citizenship and civil rights prior to the passage of the 14th amendment, and that the 14th amendment did not provide her with any additional political rights, such as the right to vote. While Van Valkenburg lost her case, and subsequent lawsuits failed to secure women's suffrage nationwide, the case stands as a critical early example of legal advocacy for women's political rights in California.

Date: October 2, 1871

The Progressive Movement transformed California politics in the early twentieth century by promoting government reform, greater public participation, and limits on the influence of powerful corporations and political machines. Women’s suffrage became part of this broader reform agenda. Governor Hiram Johnson (1866–1945) served as California’s 23rd governor from 1911 to 1917 and was a leading figure in the Progressive Movement. Johnson became tied to the suffrage cause through the 1910 California Republican platform, which endorsed women’s right to vote as part of a larger slate of progressive reforms. Motivated by Johnson’s promise to support their political rights, women in California quickly mobilized for him in his bid for governor, organizing grassroots efforts in support of his campaign in multiple counties. As the new governor, he insisted that the Legislature honor his pledge by submitting a women’s suffrage amendment before the Senate on January 6, 1911, only 3 days after he took office.

Date: 1911/1917

This official certification, issued by California Secretary of State Frank C. Jordan, records the results of the October 10, 1911 special election and formally certifies the constitutional amendments approved by California voters. Among the measures adopted was Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8 (Proposition 4), which amended the California Constitution to grant women the right to vote, as well as several other Progressive Era reforms approved during the same election, including measures expanding direct democracy and government reform. Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8 passed by a margin of just 3,587 votes, with a final count of 125,037 to 121,450. Its passage made California the sixth state in the nation to enfranchise women, nearly nine years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Following the amendment’s adoption, Governor Johnson called a special legislative session in November 1911 to revise state election laws and fully implement women’s newly won voting rights.

Date: October 10, 1911