Final Thoughts

There is no doubt that the women mentioned and discussed in this blog were pioneers and the suffragists of Maryland.  Had it not been for their efforts, women rights may not have advanced to what it is today.  

Lavinia Margaret Engle

Finally, I think Lavinia Margaret Engle is worth mentioning because she was the first woman to serve on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and in 1929 she became the first woman from Montgomery County to be elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.  Additionally, Ms. Engle was one of the founders of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County in 1920.  

Edith Houghton Hooker

Another great suffragist pioneer in Maryland was Edith Hooker.  She was the first woman accepted into Johns Hopkins University Medical School.  Additionally, she was an active advocate for women's right to vote in Maryland which began in 1910, however the efforts would come to no avail until 1919 when Congress passed the 19th amendment.    

Maryland's resistance to women voting

I also found this online on the Maryland Archives website.  This Resolution is the Maryland General Assembly's reaction to Congress' 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote in the United States.  Also, it distinctly  states that Maryland will not ratify this amendment, however, as my previous post shows, Maryland's ratification was not needed.

Women can vote

I found this online on the Maryland Archives website.  This is the bill allowing women to vote in Maryland, thanks to the 19th amendment of the United States Constitution.  Although, Maryland did not ratify this amendment, many other states did, thus forcing Maryland to accept it as their law.

Emma Maddox Funck

Emma Maddox Funck was the sister of Etta Maddox and like her sister was a suffragist.  Mrs. Funck was widely involved in clubs and organizations supporting woman suffrage movements.  She was the president of the Baltimore Suffrage Club from 1897 to 1920, which was a part of the National Woman Suffrage Association.  Additionally, Mrs. Funck was the president of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association from 1904 to 1920.  In 1921, Emma along with five other women found the Maryland Federation of Republican Women and she became the president of the Baltimore Republican Club.  Mrs. Funck also ran for legislature in 1923 and ran for Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in Baltimore, however, she did not win either.  "Mrs. Funck led a full and active life…in her own way, (she) helped to make some of the gains upon which feminists who followed her based their actions and moved ahead to make additional gains for all women" (Wallace, 145-146).[1]

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[1]Wallace, Mal Hee Son. "Emma J. Maddox Funck, 1853-1940:  Maryland Suffrage                                  Leader" In Notable Maryland Women, edited by Winifred G. Helmes, 225-29.                          Cambridge:  Tidewater Publishers, 1977.

 

Purpose of the Blog

Before this project, when I thought of the women suffrage movement, I would think of New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan Anthony.  During my research I discovered that Baltimore also experienced the women suffrage movement and that there are other women who are responsible for the great changes in Baltimore and Maryland.  In this blog I will discuss some of the great women who were pioneer suffragists that paved the way for the future of women in Maryland. 

Maryland Admits Women to the Bar

This is the actual bill stating that women are permitted to practice law in Maryland.  It is from the 1902 session of the Maryland General Assembly.  This bill marks a big change for women in Maryland which Etta Maddox along with other women worked for.  

As a result of the Maryland General Assembly changing the law to allow women to practice law in Maryland, Etta Maddox became the first woman admitted to the Maryland bar.[1]

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[1]      "Maryland's Woman Lawyer", The New York Times, September 12, 1902, http://proquest.umi.com.proxy-ub.researchport.umd.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=118479074&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1261023248&clientId=41152 (accessed October 17, 2009).

Finally, this article is significant because it mentions Etta Maddox's first trial and it mentions that she is representing her brother-in-law.  Again, had it not been for Maryland legislature changing the law, Etta Maddox would not have had the opportunity to be counsel in these cases.[2]

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[2]      "Miss Maddox Is Counsel", The Baltimore Sun, September 27, 1905, http://proquest.umi.com.proxy-ub.researchport.umd.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=1646330862&SrchMode=2&sid=3&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1261023885&clientId=41152 (accessed October 17, 2009).