Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

Event, People

Location

220 S Main St, Lombard, IL 60148, USA

Lat/Long

41.8838834, -88.018716

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

Historically, women in the United States had to fight for the right to vote until the passage of the 19^th Amendment on August 18, 1920. However, on April 6, 1891, in the community of Lombard near Chicago, attorney Ellen Martin made history when she and and 14 other women voted in the Lombard Village election. On election day Ellen Martin challenged the precedent that women were not allowed vote. A Daily Inter Ocean article from April 11, 1891 entitled “The Ladies of Lombard” described the scene:

She said she was the Martin of the firm, Miss Ellen A. Martin and that she guessed that she was a citizen of that burg, and as such challenged the right of the judges to refuse her request. She asked if she were not a citizen, Marquardt ventured mildly to submit that she was in the sense that she made her home in Lombard, but not in the sense that she had the right to vote. She then read section 6 of the charter election laws of 1869, wherein it is set forth that: “All citizens of the State of Illinois above the age of 21, actually residents of the town of Lombard for ninety days before an election for municipal officers, shall have a right to vote at such election.”

Almost as if trying the case in court, Miss Martin provided evidence and proof that, according to town charter, as a citizen of Lombard and regardless of her gender, she had every right to vote in the village election. Unable to turn her away, the election officials allowed her to cast her vote. Along with Martin, 14 other women followed suit and cast their votes too. While this was only a local election, the event had significant implications and helped to pave the way for women to eventually gain the right to vote in local and national elections.