"If we do fail . . . we will start tomorrow to win two years hence": Esther Pohl Lovejoy, November 5, 1912

The Oregon Journal interviewed suffrage supporters and opponents on Election Day, November 5, 1912. Esther Lovejoy emphasized what she termed elsewhere "Oregon's local grievance": the state was surrounded by other states in which women could vote.

"I am certain that we will win," she told the Journal,"for I feel that the men of Oregon realize as never before the humiliating position the women of our state are placed in by being hemmed in on all sides by states who allow their women to vote." She was optimistic for a victory, even in Multnomah County, whose male voters had not supported suffrage strongly in years past. 

But Lovejoy was clear: if the measure did not pass, "we will start tomorrow to win two years hence."

"Will the 23,000 Majority Against Women Stand Pat," Oregon Journal, November 5, 1912, 12.