Eliza (Lizzie) Dorman Fyler and her husband, Frank, settled in Eureka Springs in 1880 when Lizzie was 30 years old.
Lizzie practiced law but was denied admission to the state bar because – you know – the girl thing.
So, she whipped up the enthusiasm it takes to secure all the rights and privileges that belong to citizens in a free republic, primarily the right to vote. She encouraged women to vote because it was “unwomanly.”
Lizzie founded the Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association, the first suffrage group in Arkansas.
Women’s right to vote had been proposed at the state constitutional convention in 1868, but fizzled over fear it “would encourage revolutions” in families. The very idea was met with laughter and mockery.
Lizzie Fyler devoted her life to just and righteous causes – a bright and determined woman who knew right from not right and who fought lonely battles. She died suddenly in 1885. She was 35.
And she is another Eureka Springsian we would invite to Dinner for Six.
Ladies, please vote. It’s the ultimate girl thing.