“When you are a woman grown, be sure to always vote. That much discord is sown, if you are careless with your vote.” – Enoch Harpole​

In 1887, when Enoch wrote this, in Kansas local voting for women had just become legal. This shows the importance and the long fight ahead for women’s suffrage in Kansas and the United States. This is an important moment in the autograph books, for it shows the start of the Women’s Movement, when women’s voting was almost unheard of.  ​

At the tail end of the 19th century the beginnings of women’s gender roles began to shift. This was the rise of feminist movements and the contents of the autograph albums show the beginning of this change. With women’s right to vote in municipal elections put into Kansas law in 1887 coinciding with the dates for the autograph albums collected, we see how women began to come together in a variety of ways to make change.