In 1859, Clarina Nichols settled into a seat at the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention even though her gender meant she was barred from voting or publicly addressing the all-male convention. By that point she had long served as a national champion of women’s rights, anti-slavery and other matters. She uprooted her family to move to Territorial Kansas to guide the fledgling state on women’s issues. A brave move, indeed.
Thanks largely to the lobbying efforts of Nichols, the Kansas Constitution granted women the right to vote in school elections, new…
