Women's History Guide: Virginia Minor and Women's Right to Vote

National Park Service - Gateway Arch - The Virginia Minor case is one of two nationally significant cases (the other being the Dred Scott case) heard in St. Louis' Old Courthouse which were eventually appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Virginia Minor was an officer in the National Woman Suffrage Association, which during the 1872 presidential election decided to challenge voting restrictions in the United States which excluded women. The nation-wide movement of 1872 originated with Virginia and her husband Francis Minor. Virginia Minor’s attempt to register to vote was refused by the ward registrar in St. Louis, and the Minors sued him in the St. Louis Circuit court.