February 7, 1917

State Representative John A. Riggs of Hot Springs (Garland County) introduced in the Arkansas House a women’s primary suffrage bill. The right of women to vote had been advocated since shortly after the Civil War with various efforts at organized influence over the years. With the Arkansas women’s suffrage movement growing in popularity, and with Governor Charles Brough‘s noting that he favored women’s enfranchisement and considered it an honor to sign the measure, a women’s suffrage bill finally was passed, making Arkansas the “first non-suffrage state in the Union” to permit women to vote in primary elections.