The Frances Munds Suffrage Memorial Act authorizes the placement of a memorial to Munds on Wesley Bolin Plaza, in front of the Arizona Capitol, provided no public money is needed. Fans of the hero of Arizona's suffrage movement have until September 30, 2025, to find funds to complete the memorial.
Fannie Willard (1866 - 1948) came to Arizona after graduating from college in Maine. Her brothers had a ranch in the Verde Valley and she taught school in Pine, Payson, and Mayer. When she married John Munds, she and her husband moved to Prescott, where he became sheriff of Yavapai County.
She became active in the Arizona Equal Suffrage Association in 1903, serving as president from 1909 to 1912. The association was successful twice – in 1903 and 1904 – in getting the state legislature to grant women the right to vote, but both times the bill was vetoed by the territorial governors. After Arizona gained statehood, Munds became chairman of the State of Arizona Women Suffrage Organization.
The new initiative power created by the State of Arizona’s constitution allowed the issue to be decided directly by the voters. Munds led the petition drive to get the initiative on the ballot and then organized women to campaign for its passage. Munds gained the support of nearly all of Arizona's labor unions and her threat to throw women's support to the Progressive Party brought both the Democrats and Republicans around.
65% of the all-male electorate voted yes; the initiative passed by a 3 to 2 margin in every county. Arizona women had the right to vote eight years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
In 1914, she and Rachel Berry became the first women to serve in the Arizona legislature. She represented Yavapai County in the state senate for one term. She was the first woman senator in Arizona and the second in the United States.