Pauline O’Neill was born at the Presidio in San Francisco and died in Hollywood at the age of 96, a fitting ending for a life as colorful as a movie. Pauline's parents were Prussian immigrants. Her father was a purchasing agent for the US Army and was transferred to Fort Whipple in Prescott, Arizona Territory.  Pauline was an only child, nineteen at the time of the move. She soon became active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Prescott. She taught school in Williamson Valley and served as a member of the Yavapai County board of Examiners, a group charged with administering examinations for teaching certificates. She was also active in the Chautauqua Reading Circle and Catholic church charities.

 

Pauline worked in the Women’s Relief Corps in Prescott, which assisted women left destitute through the illness or death of their husbands. She joined other women’s groups  and became active in the women’s suffrage movement. Working with Carrie Chapman Catt, she campaigned throughout the state for a suffrage bill;  it passed the lower house but died in the upper house. She worked with Frances Willard Munds, president of the National American Suffrage Association, and helped win the right to vote in 1912, when Arizona became a state. Having moved to Phoenix in 1899, she was elected to the Arizona House, the first woman to represent Maricopa County.  She continued her work to protect women and children, introducing legislation to promote education and health care.

 

Pauline’s legacy has been long over-shadowed by the adventures of her husband, Bucky O’Neill, most famous as one of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. But throughout her years in Arizona, Pauline's leadership in the suffrage movement, the legislature, and community groups had a vital and lasting impact on Arizona political and cultural affairs.