Exhibits

Lewiston opened for voter registration on Monday, August 30, 1920 – only four days after the 19th amendment was certified into law and one day before a special legislative session to determine if any laws needed to be changed to allow women to vote in Maine. Turnout for voter registration was brisk. Alice J. Skolfield of Lewiston gave up her vacation in order to stay home and register to vote.

​Because Maine held elections in September, communities had to scramble to get women registered in time for the September 13 election.

Beginning on September 1, 1920, women turned out in large numbers to register to vote in Portland. Suffrage activist Augusta M. Hunt was first in line. Over the next several days, records were set for numbers of new registrations.

The newspaper reported few difficulties with the process, except for one woman, Elizabeth C. Holman. She refused to give her age, asserting that the only requirement should be her sworn statement that she was older than 21 years. She was not permitted to register, but took the matter to court and was later allowed to vote.

Essie P. Carle (1859-1935) was the first woman in line to register to vote in Belfast. In August 1916, as president of the Belfast Woman’s Club, Carle had presided over the meeting at which the Belfast Suffrage League was formed. Carle, a widow who owned a dry goods store, also chaired the Republican County Committee in Waldo County.

The oldest woman in Belfast to register was Mrs. Sarah E. Stewart, age 94.