olorado came into the Union in 1876 with
School suffrage for women and through this they had always been able
to keep the schools on a non-partisan basis. She showed that it paid
more per capita for public schools than any other State, leaving even
New York and Massachusetts behind; described its advanced position
from kindergartens to training schools and colleges, with especial
care in guarding the welfare of children, and continued:

In the East we hear of "the question of coeducation." It is not a
question west of the Mississippi River, it never has been, it
never will be. The eastern arrangement seems to us merely a
curious survival of antiquated ideas, a kind of sex-consciousness
which we have lost sight of in our care for the human being....
The place of State Superintendent has always been held by a woman
since women became eligible. The first superintendent elected was
a Republican, the second a Democrat, each holding the place for
one term; the third, who is now serving her third term, was
nominated as a Silver Republican but has really been elected and
twice re-elected without regard to politics--an example of the
independence of the vote where school affairs are concerned.
There are 59 counties in Colorado and 33 of them, including most
of those with the largest population, have women county
superintendents....

I have found Colorado women much like their sisters elsewhere
save that they have a broader view of public affairs and they
take naturally a more active interest in the world's work. They
have learned to think and to say what they think simply and
freely in gatherings where men and women meet to discuss the
vital concerns of life. They have not forgotten that they are
women but they have come to know that they are also human beings,
and, like Terence, they find nothing that concerns humanity
foreign to them. Surely had we not been faithful in the smaller
things, we should not have had these large opportunities given to
us.... I can not help thinking that my sisters elsewhere have
lost something rare and precious from their lives through the
lack of that complete citizenship which has been bestowed upon
the women of Colorado, and I hope the day may be near when those
sisters may be made man's equal under the law of the land as they
have always bee