SHAWNEE, OK, USA - Did you know?
In honor of the celebrating our Independence Day and voting in the Oklahoma primary elections, this week we introduce you to Shawnee's own suffragette and women's rights advocate.
Aloysius Larch-Miller (1886-1920) moved with her family to the Shawnee area between 1900 and 1905. She was involved with the Red Cross during WWI. She called the first mass meeting of suffragettes in Oklahoma.
In 1918, Oklahoma passed a suffrage bill allowing women to vote, but not hold office. In 1920, Larch-Miller was invited to attend a debate over ratification of the 19th Amendment. Though battling life threatening influenza, she defeated her rivals arguments and secured agreement to adopt the amendment. Ms. Aloysius may well have died for her beliefs, dying of illness on Feb 2, 1920. Oklahoma ratified the 19th Amendment on February 27, 1920.
In 1982, Larch-Miller was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame as one of their first class of inductees. Shawnee's Larch-Miller Park is on the east side of the north 900 Block of Broadway, across from Rebud Park.
