It was on this day, March 21st, 1913, that territorial Governor Walter Eli Clark signed the Shoup Women’s Sufferage Bill giving women the right to vote in the territory of Alaska.

The Shoup Women’s Sufferage Bill was the first law passed by the first Territorial Legislature, and was passed a full seven years before the 19th Amendment was ratified by the U.S. Congress in 1920.

 While the bill was progressive, it excluded most Alaska Native women, because of citizenship requirements and “civility” assessments. It was another two years before the legislature allowed Natives to vote if they “adopted a “civilized” life and abandoned traditional customs.”

The bill was sponsored by Arthur Shoup, an early leader of the territorial legislature. He would serve as superintendent of the Territorial Pioneers Home in Sitka when it opened on July 4th of that same year.

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