SELFISH INTENTIONS - K-REx - Kansas State University

presented an opportunity for change. Through her work and the work of other women’s rights
advocates, the Kansas territorial legislature gave women the right to own property, the right to
sue for divorce, and the right to possess sole custody of their children. Furthermore, the statutes
of the Kansas Constitution ended the portion of coverture that children belonged equally to their
mothers and fathers. If custody with father was not in the best interests of the child, the mother
could retain full custody. Kansas was one of the first states to give these rights to women. For
women, this step was a shift away from the cloak of coverture and the cult of true womanhood
towards equal rights. From the original territorial statutes to the new state statutes, the law
protected Kansas women’s ability to petition for divorce, and as guaranteed in the state
constitution, the right to acquire and possess property.
One woman who was central to the fight for Kansas women’s rights to own property and
obtain a divorce was Clarina Nichols. Originally from southern Vermont, Clarina Howard
Nichols traveled to Kansas in 1854 with her two oldest sons in order to scout out the Kansas
territory, leaving behind her second husband and youngest son and daughter. She explained that
she did not want to drag the whole family to Kansas if it was not going to be a permanent move.
Clarina came to Kansas with the New England Emigrant Aid Society. One reason why they
moved was because Clarina had become frustrated with the stagnant attitude of people in New
England towards women’s rights. In Diane Eickhoff’s biography of Nichols, Revolutionary
Heart, she contends, “Nichols saw that resistance was growing to progressive legislation for
women in her home state. In her mind, New England was comprised by its history, while
Kansas—where the laws were yet to be written—could devise its future from scratch.” 58 Nichols
advocated for women’s rights in this new territory. Once she and her sons were settled in
58 Diane Eickhoff, Revolutionary Heart: The Life of Clarina Nichols and the Pioneering Crusade for Women’s
Rights, (Kansas City: Quindaro Press, 2006), 99.
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