I Could Do That!

Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote

By Linda Arms White

Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Hilary Clinton is running for our president this year thanks in part to the hard work of many women who came before her. Women who made sure all women had a chance to vote, run for public office, and even run for president. Esther Morris was one of those women.

'No' and 'I can't do it!' were not words in Esther's vocabulary. No matter what challenge faced her, Esther said 'I could do that!' and did. She helped care for brothers and sisters when her mother died and opened her own hat shop. Shortly after marrying and having a son, her husband died. That didn't stop Esther from moving to Illinois to try to claim land in her own name. When that failed, she opened another hat shop, remarried, had two more sons, and eventually moved to Wyoming territory. There, Esther finally decided that if men could vote, so could she.

Esther organized a tea party to persuade local legislators to give women the vote. When the state legislature took up the issue, Esther campaigned for it and eventually watched with pride when the governor signed a bill into law allowing women to vote.

As you'll see when you read 'I Could Do That!', Esther is a great role model as one who wouldn't let what others thought stop her. She's someone to thank today as women head off to the polls to vote!