Carson City to receive historical marker in honor of Felice Cohn, one of the world's most famous suffragettes

One hundred years ago, women in America secured the right to vote in what is potentially the largest victory of women in our country to date.

In commemoration, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation through the National Collaborative for Women's History Sites has offered to gift to Carson City, a Suffrage Centennial Marker commemorating the people, places or things instrumental to women gaining the right to vote in the United States in 1920.

Felice Cohn, a native of Carson City, the state capital, will be honored on the marker for her significance to the Nevada suffrage story centering on her understanding of the law, her support of women’s rights, including suffrage, and her skill in lobbying to pass legislation.

Felice Cohn was a Nevada woman, born in 1878. She worked a great deal in law and politics as an activist, a federal appointee, an advocate of children and women, and more.

Cohn was born in Carson City to Morris and Pauline Sheyer Cohn, and was the granddaughter of Rabbi Sheyer of Carson City. Her father established a creamery, and introduced alfalfa to Ormsby County.

Cohn was one of five children, and attended school in Carson City before receiving three teaching certificates between 1894 and 1903.

She taught for a short period of time before she convinced her parents to allow her to study at the university level, where she attended the University of Nevada in Reno for one year before moving on to Stanford University to study law. In 1902, she was admitted to the bar through the U.S. District Court in Carson City.

She practiced in Goldfield and Carson City, first on issues regarding land, mining claims, and the like, which is what most court cases dealt with during the time of the great Gold Rush. She was then employed by the federal government as assistant superintendent of public sales of land, where she traveled all over the western United States (and territories).

In 1908, she was admitted to the District Court of Appeals in San Fransisco.

In 1911, she became involved with suffrage rights for women, and was one of the founders of the State Equal Franchise Society, and was the chair for the legislative committee during the 1911 legislative session. Her resolution passed with little issue and two years later it was placed on the Nevada ballot.

In 1916, Cohn was the fourth woman in history to be allowed to practice law before the U.S Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. In 1918, she was the first woman appointed as a hearings attorney for the U.S. Land Office. She then supervised the land grant sales in Oregon during the beginnings of the Oregon and California Railroad.

In 1922, Cohn opened a law office in Reno. She worked with child labor issues, foster homes, adoption, and of course, divorces, which was Reno’s big ticket law item for decades in the early 20th century.

For the rest of her life, she continued to be a supporter of women and children’s rights, as well as a center piece for law, business and politics within Nevadan society. She was one of the founders of the Nevada Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, and became its first president. She secured a $15,000 grant from the Nevada legislature to create a permanent location for the Nevada Historical Society.

Cohn passed away on May 24, 1961 in Reno.

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is a non-profit organization “committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history through historic roadside markers,” according to the Board of Supervisors staff. The foundation has elected to partner with the National Votes for Women Trail by providing submission support and funding to create 250 historic roadside markers. The markers will include information about the specific site on which it is placed, as well as reference to the National Votes for Women Trail.

Carson City’s marker, if approved by the Board of Supervisors, will honor Cohn for her work regarding women’s suffrage, and for writing the 1911 bill that led to women voting in 1914.

The State of Nevada will only receive five sites for markers. In order to reserve the Carson City marker, the first step is to receive approval from the Board of Supervisors. Once approval is given, the City and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation will move forward with verifying the exact location of the marker tentatively proposed for installation in Carson City right-of-way in front of the Nevada Legislative Building.