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WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R-SC) is proud to cosponsor a resolution that will recognize former Charleston resident, Louisa Swain, as the first woman to vote in the US. In support of this measure offered by Wyoming Congresswoman Barbara Cubin to commemorate the history of women’s suffrage, Congressman Brown made the following remarks:
“I am pleased to cosponsor the resolution that will recognize September 6th as Louisa Swain Day. The Laramie, Wyoming newspapers, where Swain cast that momentous ballot described her as a lady of the highest social standing in the community, universally beloved and respected. Mrs. Swain should also be a source of pride for the Lowcountry, having been raised in Charleston, an important part of my district. I sincerely look forward to honoring Louisa Swain’s historic vote and the efforts of her fellow women suffragists with this resolution.”
Louisa Swain cast her historic vote in Laramie, Wyoming on September 6, 1870 after the Wyoming Territorial Legislature’s Suffrage Act was signed into law on December 10th, 1869. This legislation granted all women over the age of 21 the right to vote throughout the territory, putting Wyoming on track to becoming a true “Equality State” long before the rest of the US. It took nearly 50 years after this historical vote to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving women across the nation this same right.
Congressman Brown is appreciative of Congresswoman Cubin for introducing H. Con. Res. 378, and invites all of his colleagues and constituents to commemorate this significant step in the movement for universal suffrage, a historic vote by an inspirational woman, Louisa Swain.
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