A Real Vote-GetterLooking back on the recent election, and the
large number of female voters, it's hard to imagine a time when
women weren't allowed to cast a ballot. Thanks to Frances Munds,
women in Arizona got that right almost a decade before the
passage of the 19th Amendment. By Andrea Crandall In the early
20th century, women in Arizona were treated like second-class
citizens at the voting booth. Frances Willard Munds wasn't
comfortable with that, and she made it her mission to do
something about it. The former schoolteacher's fight for women's
suffrage began in Prescott, where she joined the Arizona Women's
Christian Temperance Union. In addition, she became a member of
the Arizona Equal Suffrage Association in 1903, later serving as
its president. Munds even petitioned the Territorial legislature
numerous times and spoke at the Arizona Constitutional
Convention. Though her efforts initially failed, Munds, along
with other advocates, continued to fight, and, finally, their
determination paid off. In 19