After the passage of equal suffrage in Oregon, congratulatory telegrams poured in from all over the country. In the wake of this momentous event, Duniway proudly exchanged her OSESA (Oregon State Equal Suffrage Association) letterhead for stationery bearing the masthead of the National Council of Women Voters, of which she was named Honorary President.

The lives of Abigail Scott Duniway and her relentless, visionary coworkers in the equal suffrage movement served to bridge the gap between the oppressed, often meek-and-mild women of their mothers' generation, and the bold and modern "New Woman" of the turn of the twentieth century. Fueled by their wrath at a government that classed all women with "idiots, insane persons and criminals" in denying them the vote, women like Duniway dared to break the mold and fight for their rights. Their contributions should not be forgotten, nor underrated. At the time Abigail began her career, women's civil disabilities extended far beyond the mere lack of the vote. The situation was unbearable for single women, but even crueler for women who were married. Married women had no legal existence apart from their husbands. They could not sign contracts, had no title to their own earnings, no right to property, nor any claim to their children in case of separation or divorce.

But because the beginnings of the woman's movement are shrouded by the suffrage issue, the fact that women's civil disabilities were ever this extensive is obscured. And thus, we do not properly credit the enormous struggle undertaken by leaders in the vanguard of the movement — including Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Abigail Scott Duniway. By 1912, when Oregon issued its Equal Suffrage Proclamation, Duniway had spent over forty years directing her efforts towards alleviating a wide variety of the ills that plagued women. She demanded the right to engage in any and all occupations, the right to receive equal pay for equal work, and the right to live free from abuse.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, and women across the nation had won the right to vote. However, this was only a partial victory. After this momentous event, the women's rights movement lost steam and was not revived in force until the 1960s. Because of this, nearly a century later we are still confronting many of the same inequities that Duniway strove to eradicate. Women in other parts of the globe fare much worse. In remembering Abigail Scott Duniway, we remember her triumphs, but also the tasks left uncompleted. As we enter the 21st century, we must remain united in our efforts to fulfill Oregon's role as a "Land of Promise," and wipe out such inequities for good.

Excerpt from Declaration of the Principles of the Oregon State Equal Suffrage Association for Campaign of 1907-1908