Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

People

Location

150 1st Ave SE, Beach, ND 58621, USA

Lat/Long

46.913319, -104.004989

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

In September of 1914, Clara Darrow, president of the North Dakota Votes for Women League, along with several noted suffragists, including Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, went on a 10-day suffrage speaking tour visiting several communities across North Dakota. One such stop was in the small town of Beach, North Dakota. After Clara Darrow addressed audience, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw also spoke. An article from the September 25, 1914 edition of the Golden Valley Chronicle describes the scene and crowd’s response:

Beach people were given an exceptional treat last Sunday night at the opera house when Dr. Anna Howard Shaw delivered a powerful address on the question of woman suffrage. She is without question the best orator who ever talked to a Beach audience and from the beginning to the close the large crowd which filled the building continually applauded her remarks.

Considering this enthusiastic response, it is no surprise that only a few years later, in 1919, North Dakota was among the many other states who ratified the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.