Duniway, Abigail Jane Scott (1834-1915), was a leader of the campaign for women’s voting rights in the Pacific Northwest. Her efforts helped achieve suffrage (voting rights) for women in Idaho in 1896, Washington in 1910, and Oregon in 1912.
Abigail Jane Scott was born in Tazewell County, Illinois. Her family moved to Oregon when she was 17 years old. In 1853, she married Benjamin C. Duniway, a farmer. He was injured nine years later and became an invalid. For several years, Abigail Duniway supported her husband and their six children by operating a women’s hat shop in Albany, Ore. During this time, she became increasingly aware of the unequal treatment of men and women by the law.
In 1871, Duniway moved her family to Portland, Ore. For the next 16 years, she published The New Northwest, a weekly newspaper that demanded equal rights for women. In 1873, Duniway helped found the Oregon State Woman Suffrage Association.
