“Winning Their Place” Heidi Osselaer

Review
 The book, Winning Their Place by Heidi Osselaer explores the political push for

women’s rights and women in politics. More specifically she analyzes the political efforts of

women in Arizona through their battle for suffrage and their roles influencing major political

parties and legislation. Throughout the book, Osselaer is arguing that the efforts of early female

politicians have paved the way for the future generations of women who have held significant

roles within states and Arizona politics. Osselaer presents her argument through the use of

historical stories of early women in politics and how their ideas for political reform and women’s

rights have continued to progress throughout the book and Arizona’s history. The stories in the

book are captivating and compelling in the sense that it has been written to challenge the

assumptions of the influence women have made in early Arizona politics. It is also interesting

that Osselaer has provided notes and references at the end of the book to aid in understanding the

text along with a visual that shows the reader the impact women have made in political positions

throughout Arizona history. This book while being extensively researched and well written, falls

short in a few areas, although the book is sequential to Arizona’s history there are moments

where readers can be confused with the stories and inner personal relationships of the women

being discussed. Osselaer also falls short by comparing the advancement of women in politics

from Arizona women to the slow-moving fight of women west of the territory. She says that the

women in Arizona were able to gain political advantages quickly by living in rougher conditions,

however women westward of the state lived similarly. Osselaer makes this assumption, however

more research could have been presented to show that it was not the condition that hindered the

women in the West, as there could have been an underlying factor hindering the ability for

political advancement. With this being said, Winning Their Place, is a worthwhile read as it
deeply contributes to the study and understanding of women’s roles in participating in politics at

the state level.

The movement for suffrage and reform at the books opening chapters highlights one of

the main points to Osselaers’ argument, being that the early women of Arizona held a pioneering

spirit for political change despite the long push for that to come and the challenges they had

faced. The fight for suffrage began in 1883 when a bill was introduced to the territorial

legislature which if passed would allow women the right to vote in all Arizona elections, by

doing so few believed this would help bring an end to the corruption within politics. However,

the bill was not passed as many members of the territorial legislation believed women would be

degraded from their roles in home life; it was seen that women of the nineteenth century were

expected to be present in the domestic aspects of life while being shielded from public business

and politics. Despite the bill not passing and the refusal of male politicians to listen, women

continued to push for their suffrage rights by creating pro-suffrage organizations; that would

eventually be composed of laborers who acknowledged the discrepancies in pay from women to

men, Mormons, and socialists. Osselaer shares the history of early pioneer Frances Munds and

her advancement to the arguments made on women’s’ roles relating to the family and how

herself and the organizations were able to challenge male politicians views on women’s

involvement in politics, and eventually gained the right to vote in 1912, ending the suffrage

movement; paving a way for women to have their voice in Arizona politics. Throughout the book

Osselaer details the plight of early suffrage movements in relation to the argument that the early

political women have shaped the future generations of women in Arizona politics by continuing

to push for their political voices to be heard. 

 With the accomplishment of gaining the right to vote, many women further expressed

their beliefs on reform of politics by running for Arizona state offices. It can be seen there that

Osselaer brings in another main point of her argument being that women created an influence on

major political parties, reformation movements and legislation in Arizona. Osselaer is

challenging other Arizona historians on the conclusions they have made on female politicians,

especially those who have stated that politics in the early twentieth century was under the strict

control of the mining and railroad companies. Her analysis instead shows that much of the

politics of the time were spear-headed by women challenging male politicians backed by those

corporations, more specifically she details the 1928 election of Isabella Greenway as the

Arizona’s Democratic National Committeewoman; where her skills added to the influence

female voices in politics had on the political parties. Osselaer continues her examination of

women in legislation demonstrates that while the early focus of committee agendas of public

education and welfare, by the 1930’s women had expanded their agendas into other areas of

political topics such as agriculture, mining, labor and equality. This expansion of political

movements has continued to grow within Arizona politics highlighting the main argument that

women in Arizona’s current political sphere have been shaped by the accomplishments of the

pioneering women.    

Heidi Osselaer in Winning Their Place examines the strive for political reform and

women in politics. Specifically, she focuses on early women in Arizona and argues that their

efforts to push for suffrage and political advancement has led to future generations of females to

hold prominent roles within Arizona politics themselves. Osselaer, in six chapters outlines the

participation of women in politics starting from the early twentieth century movement for

women’s suffrage and reform to the nineteen fifties where women had established themselves as
members within Arizona politics, providing sufficient and convincing evidence needed to

support her argument. Included in the book after the final chapter is an Epilogue where Osselaer

addresses the unwritten comprehensive accomplishments of women in politics after the 1950’s.

It is there stated that Arizona now has the highest number of women holding legislative,

executive and judicial positions that can be attributed to the movement of early women in

politics; further supporting Osselaer’s argument previously mentioned. As a whole the book

serves more than a look into Arizona history as it analyzes in detail the factors that drove for

women involvement in politics and their success. Osselars’ Winning Their Place can be useful to

those interested in another side of Arizona politics, similarly this book can also be useful to those

interested in female activism in politics.