Petition of Lucinda F. Proebstel Praying for the Removal of her Political Disabilities
2/7/1878
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Add only page 1 to activity:
Add only page 2 to activity:
In this petition to Congress, Lucinda Proebstel requests a relief from her political disabilities. This petition was part of a petition drive organized by the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) calling for a constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote. The petition closely follows a template provided by NWSA (an example of this type is the Petition of Dr. Clemence Lozier). The organization encouraged women to personalize their messages to Congress by including their personal reasons for desiring the the right to vote. In her petition, Lucinda Proebstel expresses that she wants to vote because in the state of Oregon, women are classed with minors and persons of unsound mind.
This petition was referred to to the Committee on the Judiciary in the House of Representatives on February 7, 1878. On January 10, 1878 Senator Aaron Sargent first introduced the joint resolution for an amendment to the Constitution that would ultimately extend the right to vote to women as the 19th Amendment, 42 years later. Petitions like this one from Lucinda Proebstel show how women exercised their rights to bring about change in the decades-long fight for the right to vote.
Show/Hide TranscriptTranscript
Petition
OF
Lucinda F Proebstel
For
Relief From Political Disabilities
To the Senate And House of Representatives
Of The United States, In Congress Assembled:
Lucinda F. Proebstel, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the State of Oregon, County of Union, hereby respectfully petitions Your honorable body for the removal of her political disabilities, and that she may be declared invested with full power to exercise her right of self government at the ballot-box, all state constitutions or statute laws to the contrary notwithstanding.
My reason for wanting to vote is that according The Statute of Oregon, women (and married women in particular) are classed with minors And persons of unsound mind.
Petition
of
Lucinda F. Proebstel
a citizen of
Le Grande
Union Co.,
Oregon
Praying for the removal of her political disabilities.
Hon. Richard Williams
Oregon
Comt on the Judiciary
Feby 7 1878
Referred to the Committee on
the JudiciaryThis primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Full Citation: Petition of Lucinda F. Proebstel, Le Grande, Union County, Oregon, Praying for the Removal of her Political Disabilities; 2/7/1878; Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary during the 45th Congress; Petitions and Memorials, 1813 - 1968; Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Record Group 233; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/petition-of-lucinda-f-proebstel-suffrage, April 24, 2024]
Activities that use this document