Basic Information
Famously known as Amalia Post, she was born on January 30, 1826, in Johnson, Vermont, and died in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on January 28, 1897. She grew up amidst a time where life for men and women was contrary. Husbands had the expected role of supporting their wives and children. She prepared to live in a way that seemed fated not only for her but for all women. Wives assuming roles of dutifully supporting their husbands and taking care of the children was considered normal. It was not until the Suffrage Act passed that Post became interested in politics and voting. Before Post’s involvement with politics, she was adamant in becoming a vocal advocate for women (Ahcadmin, 2019). The legislation elected Post to be the first woman to serve as a jury foreman in 1871.
Background Information
Post had expected to follow a pattern that had occurred for hundreds of years, get married, become a domesticated wife, and nurture the children and husband, but this would not be her fate. Although Post is known for her influence on women’s rights, her early life did not consist of politics. In 1855, she would marry Walker T. Nichols in Michigan but soon would seek financial means elsewhere. Once leaving Michigan, they reached Omaha, where they both searched for opportunities to earn a living. Post’s husband, Nichols, ultimately decided he was not as successful as he first believed (Thompson, 2014). He decided that he would have better luck in Denver, where mining camps resonated, so he left. Soon after, Post was left alone; with her husband gone, she confided to her sister that he had done what he possibly thought was best for them, working at the mines. With no one to turn to, she had no other choice but to seek financial support from her father; this resulted in her finally being back with her family in Michigan. Time had passed, and Post returned to Denver to reunite with her husband. Although the town was not that old, it had an aura of uncertainty, especially concerning relationships. It was no more than a year later that her husband left Post for another woman. Post demanded a divorce and was successful, but she did not return to Michigan because of her embarrassment (Thompson, 2014). She also realized she was a great negotiator with money and was doing quite well financially without help from a man or anyone for that matter. She soon had a coop of chickens, and she would loan out the money she made at interest. Post’s negotiations were financially and emotionally thriving. From the business relationships she had formed, she would marry one of her partners, Morton E. Post, in October 1864. Morton was fourteen years Post’s senior. Morton, from a young age, was involved in freighting goods between Missouri and Denver. Although Morton and Post were often away from one another, this was necessary to create a better and more stable life. In 1867, Morton would move to Wyoming in hopes of building a store with his business partner. With the store not being as successful as Morton envisioned, Post was determined to keep the doors open and traveled to be with her husband after being away from him for over a year. Post had become financially secure by keeping her property under her name due to the laws permitting married women to own property in Colorado and Wyoming.
Contributions to the First Wave
Wyoming had formed a new territory with Cheyenne as the capital, which had passed the act for women to have the right to vote and hold office. All-male legislators had given their reason ranging from wanting justice they felt was long over due to only passing such acts to attract the public’s attention. It was rumored that the act had been passed as a prank; however, no one will ever know the real motive for this. This political move was distinctive for its time, a step towards justice for democracies on the west coast. Post had hardly any interest in politics until the passage of the suffrage act. Still, it would not be long for her to become involved. Before the election that September, women’s first set of civic responsibilities were put to the test. The judge’s decisions that jurors would be selected from those who voted could be put on either grand or petit juries. Between 1870 and 1871, women were called to be put on jury, and in 1871 Post was called to serve on the petit jury. She was one of two women chosen (Ahcadmin, 2019). The women on the grand jury and trial jury were selected less than six months after Wyoming’s first territorial legislature granted women the right to vote.
It is also believed that women were put on jury to discredit women’s suffrage potentially, but the exact opposite occurred. Disapproving of tobacco and smoking, women were looked at as extremely strict and had lower chances of accepting pleas of self-defense for those who had committed murder. Women were also believed to hand out more massive fines causing the conclusion jury service was no longer a voting requirement. Over time, events had taken place where Post had found herself being the national leader of the women’s rights movement, not just in Wyoming. In 1871, Post also met national leaders of the suffrage movement and was named a Lifetime Vice President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (Thompson, 2014), such as Susan B. Anthony, Victoria Woodhull, and Isabell Beecher Hooker in Washington D.C. It would be 50 years until the right to vote was granted to all United States women. Many reasons were given against women ‘s suffrage: women were said to be chaste keepers at home, discreet and obedient to their husbands, and politics would do nothing to women, only endanger them. Later that year, in 1871, Wyoming would send its second territorial legislature bill to the governor in hopes of taking back women’s suffrage in that territory. Post is well known for contacting the same governor and making a personal appeal to him, Gov. John A. Campbell, to dismiss the bill, veto it entirely. Regardless, the governor returned the bill without his signature; in fact, he defended women and enjoyed women voters’ success and the jury experiment. Post is also known for joining forces with legislators to vote against the bill so it would not pass regardless of the veto (Thompson, 2014). The override was close to a success: although it passed through the House, the override in the council failed by one vote. The senate has given women the right to vote in Wyoming since then.
Post advocated for women and if it were not for her persistence, women’s suffrage could have disappeared in Wyoming. Post was determined that women’s suffrage would become law (Ahcadmin, 2019). To protect women’s suffrage in Wyoming’s application for statehood, Post chaired a ladies’ meeting to develop strategies to keep anti-suffragists from becoming delegates (Lamont, 2006). Along with Post’s success in politics, Post and her husband would then be looked at as a success in their marriage and financially. At one time, Morton was a leading banker and businessman, held positions such as Laramie County Commissioner, and elected as delegate to the U.S. Congress from Wyoming Territory. Not long after his successes, his company failed due to bad weather affecting his cattle business and a series of bad loans. After his failures, he left Post behind, moved to Utah, began farming, and died in California in 1933. Post had remained where she was left behind; this did not bother her. Post was independent in running her own businesses, owned property under her name, and was prominent in real estate.
“I was Foreman of the Jury,” she wrote, “& the man was condemned & sentenced to be hung. [W]e found him guilty of murder in the first degree as found an indictment. There is no fun in sitting on a jury where there are murder cases to be tried. [T]his one that is to be hung killed two.”
~ Amalia Post (Thompson, C. 2014)
Analysis and Conclusion
Post defeated all stereotypes and patterns of her time; although she was born into a divided world, she created her world with its set of rules. Not only was she the most well-known female activist in Wyoming, but the impact she made is also felt to this day (Lamont, 2006). This significant victory in the history of the woman suffrage movement-the enfranchisement of women in Wyoming Territory in 1869, is also the most poorly remembered and understood. Growing up where women were expected to nurture their husbands and be devoted to their household duties at all times while her husband worked was the life she imagined she would live, but this was furthest from reality. After Post’s divorce, this is where she realized she could not depend on anyone but herself. Soon after starting her businesses and granting loans, she would find love once again in hopes of finally having a successful marriage. Although he tried to support her to the best of his ability, Post had other goals in mind, such as women being put on a jury (Thompson, 2014). It was not too long thereafter, that Post would be named a leader on the petit jury; this was monumental. She would then gather with legislatures to prevent a bill from overriding the governor’s veto. Regardless of the governor himself not signing the bill, Post stood for what she believed in, and that was justice for not only herself but for other women.
References
Ahcadmin. (2019, November 3). Putting the Women Back into Women’s Suffrage. American Heritage Center (AHC) #AlwaysArchiving. https://ahcwyo.org/2019/11/03/putting-the-women-back-into-womens-suffrage/.
(Image) Flores, Jessica. “West Led Country in Women’s Suffrage.” GoErie.com, Erie Times-News, 30 Aug. 2020, www.goerie.com/story/entertainment/2020/08/30/west-led-country-in-womenrsquos-suffrage/113603702/.
Lamont, V. (2006). “More Than She Deserves”: Woman Suffrage Memorials in the “Equality State.” Canadian Review of American Studies, 36(1), 17–43. https://doi-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/10.1353/crv.2006.0027
Thompson, C. D. (2014, November 8). Amalia Post, Defender of Women’s Rights. WyoHistory.org. https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/amalia-post-defender-womens-rights.