Ellis Meredith

Ellis Meredith grew up steeped in women’s activism as the daughter of a well-known Montana suffragette. In Denver, she worked at the Rocky Mountain News – first as proofreader, then as a political journalist. At a time when women did not have the right to vote, she advocated for women’s rights in her column, “Women’s World.” In 1893, Ellis Meredith met Susan B. Anthony and asked her help to get Colorado women the right to vote. “If Colorado goes for woman’s suffrage,” she said, “you may count on a landslide in that direction throughout the West.” And just a few months later, Colorado women did gain the right to vote. They used it to enact child labor laws, an eight-hour workday, and child abuse and negligence laws. Called the Susan B. Anthony of Colorado, Ellis Meredith went on to campaign for women’s suffrage, nationwide. In 1910. Ellis Meredith defeated 7 men to become Denver’s first female elected official, the City Election Commissioner.

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