In 1856, in an opera house in Roseville, Illinois, Susan B. Anthony called for the supporters of woman suffrage to stand. The only person to rise was eight-year-old Emma Smith. And she continued to take a stand for the rest of her life. As a leader in the suffrage movement, Emma Smith DeVoe stumped across the country organizing for the cause, raising money, and helping make the West central to achieving the vote for women.

DeVoe used her feminine style to great advantage in the campaign for the vote. Rather than promoting public rallies, she encouraged women to put their energies toward influencing the votes of their fathers, brothers, and husbands. Known as the still-hunt strategy, this approach was highly successful and helped win the vote for women in Washington in 1910. Winning the West for Women demonstrates the importance of the West in the national suffrage movement. It reveals the central role played by the National Council of Women Voters, whose members were predominately western women, in securing the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Winning the West for Women also tells a larger story of dissension and discord within the suffrage movement. Though ladylike in her courtship of male support for the cause, DeVoe often clashed with other activists who disagreed with her tactics or doubted her commitment to the movement. This fascinating biography describes the real experiences of women and their relationships as they struggled to win the right to vote.

Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal is a historian at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.

"At long last, here is a full account of the life of Emma Smith DeVoe, the powerhouse in engineering the successful woman suffrage campaign for Washington State in 1910. A winning strategist in a minefield of activists and opponents, her story exposes the complications of western politics a century ago." -Karen J. Blair, Central Washington University

"This biography tells the insider story of the first wave of feminism, complete with all the back-biting we've hungered for." -Melanie Gustafson, University of Vermont