Map of the Day: The states that granted women’s suffrage before it was cool

“Votes for Women a Success: The Map Proves It,” circa. 1914. (Via Washington Post)

The Washington Post points us to this old map that was distributed at a congressional hearing on women’s suffrage on March 3, 1914. The states in red are the ones that had already given women (which often meant white women) the right to vote. Those mostly western states gave the burgeoning suffrage movement an edge up. Since women were already able to vote in some states, proponents could ask the lawmakers if they really wanted “to put your party in the delicate position of going to four million women voters next fall” after failing to address suffrage.

And it turns out that these states have continued their tradition of embracing women in politics. Drawing on data from the Center for American Woman and Politics, WashPo notes that the states that were ahead of the curve on suffrage have had some of the best records for electing women in the decades since then. Of those 10 pioneering states, seven have elected female governors and six are in the top 20 ranking of states in sending women to state legislatures.

Check out WashPo’s map of women’s representation in state legislatures after the jump. 

(Credit: Washington Post)

Maya Dusenbery is an Executive Director of Feministing.