The suffrage movement in the United States began in the 1840s, but some women in Kentucky—unmarried or widowed property owners over the age of 21—could vote in school district elections beginning in 1838. Kentucky’s first women’s suffrage organization was founded in 1867.

Who were the suffragists? Many were well-to-do and from prominent families. Some were teachers and physicians. They were both white and black. Some were married, some divorced. Some never married. They often worked for other social reforms, like prohibition and an end to child labor.