ROCHESTER, Minn. - The History Center of Olmsted County is celebrating a national milestone. One hundred years ago this year, women gained the right to vote in the national election.
Director Wayne Gannaway says these women faced many challenges, including learning how to vote.
The women set up makeshift ballot booths to practice voting. They learned where to go, what a ballot looked like, how to fill it out, and where to put the ballot once they were done, according to Gannaway.
He also says jail time was common for women who were protesting.
This was a nation-wide movement, but one local Rochester woman attempted to push Minnesota towards letting women vote.
"In 1867, Sarah Burger Stearns, along with another woman, went to the state legislature and demanded that the constitution of the state of Minnesota be changed to allow women to vote...and they made a really compelling case," says Gannaway.
The state did not make this change right away. It was another 43-years before women were able to vote in a national election.
The history center says you will be able to view this display into 2021.
