Finding relevance in history isn’t always easy, but the wave of social activism and political reform that took place in the early 20th century -- later known as the Progressive Era -- is one that rings familiar.
"[That time] was essentially a movement to come to grips with some of the dramatic changes that were occurring in America in the period following the Civil War," says Tom Thomas, who teaches U.S. and Western history at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "Issues relating to labor, the growing power of corporations -- and mixed within that was the growing power and influence of the women’s movement.
Colorado was a leader on some of the biggest issues, including women’s right to vote. But that might not have been the case if it weren’t for an extraordinary group of Colorado women who were dedicated to change.
Thomas aims to shed light on these women in a new presentation, "Colorado Women in the Progressive Era," part of the Colorado Chautauqua’s 2017 history series. While some of the Colorado women are quite well known -- like Molly Brown -- there are others who may be less familiar but still made important impacts.
One of these, Josephine Roach was the first female member of the Denver police force and ran a remarkable campaign for governor against Gov. Edwin C. Johnson.
"She took him on, and that was a bold move," Thomas says. "There were very few women running for high state or national offices during that period. Women engaged in what was considered a male sphere found themselves subjected to a level of criticism men would never have had to deal with. So to take that on, and to give Johnson a pretty good fight for the office was a remarkable thing."
Thomas presents "Colorado Women in the Progressive Era" Wednesday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder.
Interview highlights with Tom Thomas and Carol Taylor, program manager for education and history at the Colorado Chautauqua National Historic Landmark.
The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote in 1920, thanks in part to the efforts of a few Colorado women:
Thomas: The woman who really spearheaded the movement in Colorado more than any other, a journalist and activist by the name of Ellis Meredith, had actually been warned off the movement. She was warned by national suffrage leaders that Colorado was not ready, that it was too soon, it was premature, that the effort would fail.
She forged ahead, even going against the current of the movement she was very much a part of. And she communicated, "Does anyone actually listen to what’s happening here in Colorado?" She really did have her thumb on the pulse, so to speak, and she knew the time was right and the time was appropriate to move forward – and she was correct.
Taylor: She really used the power of the pen. She became known as the Susan B. Anthony of Colorado.
One part of the Progressive Era, the 18th Amendment, brought about Prohibition. It was eventually repealed – but still considered an important part of the movement:
Thomas: The consumption of alcoholic beverages, in many cases, had been rampant in America in the 19th century. And all the ills we currently associate with it – the impact on the home, domestic violence, the corrosive elements of the saloon on communities – those were real factors.
What they could not have anticipated were the unintended consequences of Prohibition and creating a whole new "business line," so to speak, for criminal activities. But it was viewed as a very progressive element to deal with what they perceived as a scourge and try to eliminate it.
Taylor: The Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Colorado chapter, was really active and they actually built a cottage at the Colorado Chautauqua in 1900. They were seeing what was going on in the mining camps, with all of the excessive drinking.
They weren’t stodgy old women; they were really concerned with working toward the betterment of families, and empowering women, and most of the WTC women were also suffragists. So it’s a key part of first-wave feminism.
