From 1875 until 1913, the women’s suffrage movement proceeded with the understanding that the only way it would be successful was to convince each state separately that it should grant women the right to vote. The work was often tiring, time-consuming, and expensive. Speakers logged thousands of miles of travel (by stagecoach, horseback, riverboat, train, and car) to present their ideas to often-hostile crowds. Unfortunately, their hard work did not regularly pay off. From 1870 until 1910, only four states granted women the right to vote, despite the fact that there were nearly five hundred different campaigns in more than thirty states.

One problem was the less-than-optimal conditions under which the supporters of women’s suffrage often worked. For example, in 1890, the women’s suffrage movement turned its attention to South Dakota, which was debating whether to grant women the right to vote. Unfortunately, the summer...