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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Esther Lovejoy Votes for Herself 1920

Esther Lovejoy's 1920 candidacy for the Oregon Third District for the U.S. House of Representatives pitted her against Republican incumbent C.N. McArthur. McArthur and his supporters accused Lovejoy of being a "Bolshevik" and a "Radical."
Lovejoy worked to build a coalition of labor, progressive, and prohibition supporters. And the Oregon Journal, on election day, November 2, 1920, printed a page one photo of Lovejoy voting (presumably for herself). Note that the photo presents this vital civic practice of voting in the hands of women as first, an election judge, and then a woman as candidate and voter.