March is Women’s History Month so it was a natural to invite Barbara Griffin, President of the League of Women Voters of Charleston to be the speaker at our March 17 meeting. 2020 marks the organization’s 100th anniversary. Here’s a link to more about the League.
2020 also marks the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Its wording is pretty straight forward:
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
It had taken suffragettes decades of battle…from the parlors to the streets…for that simple, seemingly self evident, concept to be ratified by the required 36 states. South Carolina was not among them! In fact, South Carolina rejected the 19th amendment in January 1920. Although women were granted the vote by federal law, South Carolina specifically excluded women from eligibility to serve on state juries for another 47 years. In fact, the Palmetto State was the second to last to permit women to serve on juries.
More on South Carolina and the 19th Amendment here.
And more on women and juries here.
We’re sure Barbara Griffin will have lots more to share at our March meeting.
