[2] Concerning Mrs. Trout's involvement in the woman's suffrage movement, The Gentle Force says, "Dr. Anna Blount and Grace Wilbur Trout ... achieved state-wide reputations as leaders for the cause, and both served on the Municipal Suffrage Commission in Illinois, as did Club members Grace Hall Hemingway and Anna Lloyd Wright.

[4][incomplete short citation][5][6] During Trout's two years as president, she guided the league in increasing its membership, meeting frequency, and committee structure.

[7] The league published pamphlets and circulated petitions to lobby the state legislature to grant women voting rights.

A suffrage bill had been introduced to the Illinois state legislature many times over the years, often by the long-time legislative chair of IESA, Catharine McCulloch.

She made sure that a local suffrage club was formed in each district, so that organization members could then lobby representatives as needed.

[11] She strategically planned public events throughout the state, such as automobile and speaking tours, in order to generate and highlight local support.

'"[16] A legislator from Peoria characterized the tactics of the Big Four as "noiseless" in an article published in Collier's shortly after the bill was signed.

Trout and Booth used this card system to study and categorize legislators, and build a nonpartisan coalition of support for their cause (there were Progressive, Democratic, Republican, and Socialist members of the legislature).

First, suffrage had become increasingly acceptable among a wider group of citizens, particularly upper middle-class, educated, conservative women like Trout.

[20] Additionally, upper-class women held a significant number of leadership positions in the later period of the suffrage movement.

Plus, the English suffragette fight helped by presenting a contrast; as Antoinette Funk said, in England they were blowing up country homes while women in the United States weren’t even making speeches.

George Fitch believed the IESA lobby was able to keep the opposition in check "because of its lack of aggressiveness.”[21]Trout and her associates were willing to negotiate and seek advice, even from opponents.

The negative aftermath of the Woman Suffrage Parade held on March 3, 1913, the day before President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, actually helped improve public sentiment.

Women were treated so poorly at this event, harassed and heckled by mostly male bystanders, that many people were moved to support suffrage in response to the injustice its proponents received.

In 1920, Trout ended her suffrage career when IESA disbanded and transformed to the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

[14] Trout wrote that she initially accepted the presidency of IESA because she was urged to do so by her 21-year-old son, who had seen California women fight for suffrage.