Duniway, Abigail Jane (1834–1915)

US suffragist. Having to work to support her six children made her keenly aware of inequality between the sexes. She organized the Equal Rights Society in Oregon and drafted the resolution that gave the vote to women in Washington Territory.

She was born near Groveland, Illinois. She began teaching and running a millinery shop to support her family after her husband was injured and became unable to work. With the help of her children, she published the weekly newspaper The New Northwest (1871–87) while continuing to work for women's rights. She was instrumental in winning women's suffrage in Idaho (1896), the state of Washington (1910), and Oregon (1912). In her day she was noted for disagreeing with many other national leaders over linking the women's right to vote with other reforms such as the prohibition of alcohol. In addition to her account of the suffrage movement in the Northwest (1914), she published poetry and two novels.