In 1893, Colorado became the first state in the United States to grant women full voting rights through a popular referendum, marking a major milestone in the American women's suffrage movement.

The struggle for women's voting rights in Colorado had begun decades earlier. During the territory's transition to statehood in 1876, women organized conventions, petitions, and public campaigns demanding equal political representation.

In January 1876, suffrage supporters gathered at Unity Church in Denver, where they established an organization that helped build the foundation for Colorado's women's voting rights movement.

Although Colorado's state constitution permitted women to vote in certain school-related elections, it denied them the broader right to vote in state and national elections.

In 1877, suffrage supporters organized their first statewide referendum campaign. National advocates, including Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, supported the effort, but voters rejected the measure.

Over the following years, Colorado women continued organizing through suffrage associations, women's clubs, churches, labor networks, public meetings, and newspaper campaigns.

By 1893, a new movement had emerged under the leadership of the Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association. Activists including Ellis Meredith and Minnie J. Reynolds used newspapers to promote equal voting rights, while national organizer Carrie Chapman Catt traveled through Colorado delivering speeches and helping establish local suffrage organizations.

The movement also gained support from political leaders, including Governor Davis Hanson Waite.

On November 7, 1893, Colorado voters went to the polls to decide whether women should receive equal voting rights.

The referendum passed, receiving 35,798 votes in favor and 29,551 against. With approximately 55 percent supporting the measure, Colorado became the first state to approve women's suffrage through a direct popular vote.

On December 2, 1893, Governor Waite formally proclaimed the measure into law, allowing eligible women to vote in elections on the same terms as men.

The victory encouraged suffrage movements throughout the country and demonstrated the importance of grassroots organizing, public education, and political participation.

Colorado women began exercising their expanded voting rights in subsequent elections, and women were elected to the Colorado General Assembly in 1894.

The achievement came twenty-seven years before the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, which prohibited denying voting rights on the basis of sex nationwide.

The Women's Suffrage Association of Colorado Historical Marker at 17th Street and California Street in Denver commemorates the earlier organizing movement that helped lay the foundation for the 1893 victory.

Today, Colorado's 1893 referendum remains an important chapter in the history of women's rights, political equality, and American democracy.