The information below has been compiled from a variety of sources. If the reader has access to information that can be documented and that will correct or add to this woman’s biographical information, please contact the Nevada Women’s History Project.
At A Glance
Born: February 26, 1861, Eureka, Humboldt County, California
Died: July 4, 1941, Reno, Washoe County, Nevada
Maiden Name: Eunice Esther Hobbs
Married: Dr. William Henry Hood, Dec. 23. 1890, Vallejo, Calif.
Children: Harry Standerwick, William Henry Hood, Arthur James Hood, Charles Allen Hood
Race: Caucasian
Primary City and County: Reno, Washoe County, Nevada
Major Fields of Work: Civic activist, university regent, leader of Nevada suffrage organizations
Reno activist helped ratify U.S. Nineteenth Amendment in Nevada
Eunice Hobbs capped her life’s work to improve Nevada and its institutions with her participation in the state’s ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote.
Eunice Hobbs was born in 1861, in Vallejo, Calif., to Isaac and Sarah Hobbs. She married Dr. William H. Hood of Battle Mountain, Nev., in Vallejo, Calif., on December 23, 1890. Eunice had a son from an earlier marriage, Harry Standerwick, and she and Dr. Hood had four more sons: William H. Hood, Jr., Arthur J. Hood, Charles A. Hood, and Dwight L. Hood.
The Hoods moved to Reno in 1903. Eunice became active in civic activities, including the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Young Women’s Christian Association, Twentieth Century Club, PTA officer, and Sparks Baptist Church. She was involved in civic improvement such as beautifying empty lots and the 1912 Reno clean-up day and was vice-president of the Reno Chautauqua Association.
On Feb. 3, 1912, she joined other Reno citizens in a public meeting in Reno to speak about their demands for a state amendment to require one year’s residency for those seeking divorce. The group sent telegrams to prominent women in 14 Nevada cities and placed petitions in favor of the amendment in libraries, drug stores and hotels.
Eunice was a charter member of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society. In July 1912, Eunice was invited to meet with Rae Copley Raun, a San Diego journalist and mayoral candidate, and her sister, Edith Copley, who were making a transcontinental automobile trip for women’s suffrage. “Most of the afternoon was devoted to conversation and a few songs were also enjoyed and at 5 o’clock dainty refreshments were served,” according to a Reno Evening Gazette article.
Eunice was elected second vice-president of the Nevada Equal Franchise Society in February 1914. During the busy suffrage work in 1914, Eunice and her family suffered the death of their 16-year-old son, Charles Allen. Following Nevada’s successful campaign in 1914, the Washoe County Equal Franchise Society reorganized as the Woman Citizens’ Club. Eunice was third vice-president of the nonpartisan civic organization.
In 1918 Eunice Hood was elected a regent for the University of Nevada for an eight-year term. In December 1918 Eunice was appointed to the Ratification Committee for Nevada of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association formed by Carrie Chapman Catt. This committee pressured Nevada Governor Emmet Boyle and the Nevada Legislature to ratify the Susan B. Anthony Amendment to the U.S. Constitution enabling women to vote. They were successful on February 7, 1920. Mrs. Hood and others addressed the legislators in thanks.
Eunice Hood died in 1941 and is buried with her family in the Masonic Memorial Gardens, Reno, Nevada.
Researched and written by Mona Reno.