About Abigail Scott Duniway & the Oregon Suffrage Movement
Presented by Marge Harding, living history presenter
In a Living History presentation, “Abigail Scott Duniway” shares
her history as a suffragist, journalist, and national leader, emphasizing how
her pioneer heritage encouraged her self-definition and remarkable career.
“She” vividly recounts the Scott family’s hazardous migration from Illinois to
Oregon, the difficulties encountered in settling a frontier area, her
tumultuous marriage, and how repeated pregnancies influenced her emerging
feminism.
Duniway’s 42-year suffrage campaign was an uphill struggle with
urban culture, political corruption, cutthroat capitalism, and temperance
suffragists opposing and harassing her. But in 1912, when Oregon approved votes
for women, the indomitable Mrs. Duniway deserved much of the credit. She was a
woman whose accomplishments make her an individual who would not and should not
be forgotten.
About the Speaker:
Marge Harding, after retiring from Home Economics teaching, is a
regular speaker and living history presenter on various subjects concerning
women. She performs first person at conferences, workshops, and seminars as
well as historic reenactments with representations of several historic women
figures. This includes Mary Todd Lincoln, Abigail Scott Duniway (1st Lady of
Oregon’s Women Suffrage), and Women of the Oregon Trail and early Oregon. She and
her husband Rolla live in Oregon City, Oregon (“The End of the Oregon Trail”),
and are involved with museums and active in heritage tourism events and
activities.
