How Four Women Related to UC Berkeley Changed California's Politics

by Inchara J

Edited by Uday Lingampalli, Kavya Gurunath, & Shivanshi Sharma, Layout by Alison Ye, Artwork by Sharon Pan

Everyone knows California. It’s the golden state. With Los Angeles as the harbor for celebrities at the famous Hollywood to San Francisco dragging scholars to gawk at technology, California really is an impressive state. California really is a diverse place… especially for all races and genders. Many events in California’s past have shaped it to be what it is today, - the home of nearly 39.5 million people. One of these events was the voting poll on November 5th, 1918.

Let’s position ourselves on November 5, 1918. Seven years prior, women had won suffrage- the right to vote- but only in California. Women have been oppressed for a while, but luckily, ladies in California knew how to fight and what they were fighting for. And they did it in the nick of time, too. Four women won this election, and the political thinking inspired by these females not only spread through the state but throughout the nation as well.

These four women, Esto Broughton, Grace Dorris, Elizabeth Hughes, and Anna Saylor, revolutionized politics forever. All with UC Berkeley ties, these girls, who had initially planned to lead normal lives, rapidly established a unique political influence upon this nation. They faced lots of jurisdiction and degradement, but they didn’t allow that to stop them from placing their mark on the male-biased nation they lived in.

Esto Broughton, a graduate, lawyer, and journalist was selected into the California state legislature. This was something practically unheard of at the time. Another thing that added to the fire was that she had graduated from UC Berkeley. Which is one of the most prestigious public schools as of today. She was one of the first four women that begin to change politics.

Grace Dorris, a woman who had run solely for her husband, who had gone to war, was described as a weak and frail lady. Suffrage for women is a topic sore for those in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Back to these women, though. Not much was documented about these women’s achievements, since journalists were extremely skeptical of these political figures, and probably deemed them unworthy of a newspaper article.

What one does know is that these women raised the bar for other women. When the women’s suffrage referendum was approved by 50.7% of the people, it showed the opinion of the people and how women could really make a change in the nation. For those who don’t know, the women’s suffrage referendum is a voting event that took place in Colorado in 1893.

When the majority of the nation voted for women to have proper voting rights, it placed women equal with men and created an unforgettable moment of equality.

Women, depicted as frail and delicate, have become more and more prominent in politics. Take Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi, and others as examples. Both prominent female figures wouldn’t be where they are now if it weren’t for the influence of women before them. But we are changing. Earlier, nobody wanted women to have the right to vote. Now that they do, many people in our nation and world are blind-sighted and believe that we have established equality for all, but the gap between women and men is still there. This nation still has not elected a female president, and there are few positions for women as one becomes more and more successful. Yet society is finally evolving mentally, becoming less sexist and more open to every gender and sexuality. Humanity isn’t quite there yet but if mankind puts a tiny bit more effort into the art of acceptance, the world could really be a more harmonious place. Whether it be accepting more women or more persons of color, or someone’s sexual orientation, humanity is one step closer to equality and once mankind gets there--we’ll see many more people like these legendary women.