Under territorial law persons with one-half or more Negro blood were prohibited from serving as witnesses.

From 1866 to 1871 laws banned all nonwhite children from attending public school.

In 1885 Idaho’s Territorial Legislature denied both polygamists (people married to more than one person at the same time) and all who were members of the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) the right to vote (franchise).

In 1889, after the Mormon Church had ceased performing plural marriages, the Idaho Legislature passed a bill withholding the vote from persons who had belonged to an organization that previously had taught polygamy.

Idaho was admitted to the Union as the 43rd state in 1890. Voting, serving on juries, and holding public office were denied to all women as well as the following men:

» Chinese (described as persons of “Mongolian” descent not born in the United States)

» Japanese (also known as “Mongolians”)

» Indians who were not taxed and who had not severed their tribal relations and “adopted the habits of civilization”

» Mormons

In 1892 the Test Oath keeping Mormons from voting or holding office was repealed after Mormons dissolved the People’s Party and agreed that the church would stay out of politics.

In 1896 Idaho was the fourth state in the nation to give women the right to vote.

In 1921 Idaho’s law against race-mixing (miscegenation) was amended to include a prohibition against Japanese marrying Caucasians. It was not repealed until 1959.

In 1923 an anti-Japanese measure was passed that made Japanese-born individuals ineligible to own or lease land.

In 1924 the Idaho Supreme Court rescinded the right of women to serve on juries, citing a Territorial law that said a jury was a body of men. Although women were rarely called since 1896 (when they obtained the right to vote), prosecutors liked to use women on juries involving prohibition.

In 1943 a statute was passed allowing women to again serve on juries; however, until 1963, a woman could excuse herself without stating a reason for doing so.

In 1952 Japanese immigrants were allowed to become naturalized citizens. It was another three years before the prohibition against land ownership by Japanese was taken off the books by the Idaho Legislature.

In 1961 Idaho passed a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination in employment and public accommodations because of race, creed, color, or national origin. A violation was a misdemeanor; however, no agency was charged with enforcing the statute.

In 1962 voters approved a constitutional amendment to delete language that made Chinese and other “Mongolians” ineligible for the rights of citizenship.

In 1963 Idaho passed a bill requiring that instruction within the public schools be in English, except for the teaching of a foreign language.

In 1969 the Legislature passed a law banning discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion, and national origin in housing, public accommodations, education, and employment, and created the Idaho Commission on Human Rights to enforce the law.

In 1971 the United States Supreme Court ruled for the first time that different treatment of men and women might, under certain circumstances, constitute denial of equal protection of laws as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. This ruling came in an Idaho case, Reed v. Reed.

In 1972 Congress adopted the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. Under the leadership of the state’s only female senator, Edith Miller Klein, Idaho became the fifth state to ratify the amendment.

In 1977 the Idaho Legislature rescinded its ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment following a nationwide anti-ERA campaign led by the Eagle Forum’s Phyllis Schlafly.

In 1980 the Idaho Legislature amended the bill it passed in 1963 to provide that instruction may be given in a language other than English to allow those lacking proficiency to transition into the English language.

In 1982 discriminatory language against Mormons was removed by initiative from Idaho’s Constitution.

In 1983 legislation was drafted barring malicious harassment; the bill won overwhelming approval and, together with other statutes passed in subsequent years, provides law enforcement tools to be used when confronted with acts of domestic terrorism and malicious harassment.

In 1987 the Idaho Legislature passed a bill amending the human rights act to prohibit employment discrimination for individuals forty years of age or older.

In 1989 the Idaho Legislature passed a bill prohibiting employment and housing discrimination based on disability.

In 1990 the Idaho Legislature passed a bill making the third Monday of January Martin Luther King, Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day.