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Ballot & BeyondMrs. Edward H. Harris, Sr. | Suffragist By Any NameThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, founder of the Women’s Equality Day Celebration across Maryland Coalition and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.As president of the Just Government League of Allegany County in rural Western Maryland, Mrs. Edward Harris led the organization at a critical time, through two of the most seminal moments in Maryland’s suffrage history. Her activism is well-documented, but in typical fashion for the time, she is always referred to as either Mrs. Edward H...2020-08-2700 minBallot & BeyondSadie Jacobs Crockin | Visionary Jewish SuffragistThis episode of Ballot & Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women's Heritage Center, is adapted from a biographical sketch of Sadie Jacobs Crockin written by scholar Barry Kessler. The reader is Sally T. Grant, granddaughter of Sadie Crockin.A life well-summarized by the Jewish Museum of Maryland: "As a woman, an American, and a Jew, Sadie Jacobs Crockin championed many causes. Throughout her life, she brought women together in organizations that empowered diverse Americans to participate fully in civic life. Crockin exemplified the college-educated, progressive “New Woman” of her day who joined women’s club for self-improvement and to effec...2020-08-2700 minBallot & BeyondEllen Newbold La Motte | Activist & AdventurerThis episode of ballot beyond contributed by the Maryland Women's Heritage Center. Was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Amy Rosenkrans. Ellen Lamont's entire life could be considered a high adventure. A Delaware socialite. She chose to become a nurse, writer, activist, and world traveler. She went to England to document the activities of the suffragette movement.Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland’s public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.2020-08-2600 minBallot & BeyondReverend Doctor Pauli Murray | The Will To ThriveThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, a long-time board member of the Baltimore chapter of the National Organization for Women and a volunteer with the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.The Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray was ahead of her time and a pioneer in the areas of civil rights, feminism, labor, the law, academia, gender, and religion. Fifteen years before Rosa Parks, Murray was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a Virginia bus. Twenty years before Greensboro, she orga...2020-08-2600 minBallot & BeyondLaura Byrne | Serving Suffrage With A SmileThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was researched by Dan Materazzi, authored by Paulette Lutz and Executive Director Shawn Gladden of the Howard Co. Historical Society. It was read by Elizabeth Bobo, First Female County Executive in Maryland and longtime history, voting rights and gender equity advocate. She is also the Howard Co. Year of the Woman liaison and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.On the local level, Mrs. Bernard J. Byrne, also known as Laura Laurenson Byrne, led the fight for Women’s Suffrage in Howard C...2020-08-2600 minBallot & BeyondEmilie Doetsch | Lawyer & JournalistThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Tina Sheller, assistant professor of Visual and Material Culture at Goucher College. The reader is Tina Sheller. Emilie Doetsch was a suffragist, lawyer, journalist, and political activist, who participated in the famous Suffrage Army march from New York to Washington, D.C. in February 1913 as a “war correspondent” for a Baltimore newspaper.Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.2020-08-2600 minBallot & BeyondCatherine Sweet | Foiled Early VoterThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Judy A. Carbone, President of AAUW-Garrett County Branch and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.Catherine Sweet may have remained unknown to history if it were not for a front-page article published in The Sun of Baltimore, Maryland, on May 8, 1896. The article was about the first municipal election in the town of Loch Lynn Heights in Garrett County, Maryland. Catherine almost was the first woman to vote in a municipal election in the state, but in the en...2020-08-2600 minBallot & BeyondEdith Houghton Hooker | Dynamic Suffrage DriverThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver, Ph.D. The reader is Diane Weaver.
Edith Houghton Hooker was a critically important and arguably an essential figure in the Maryland campaign for women’s suffrage. Without her drive and dynamism, we would have little awareness of the commitment of Maryland suffragists to achieve the right to vote.
Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
2020-08-2607 minBallot & BeyondMargaret Brent | Colonial SuffragistThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Audrey Partington. The reader is Kalin Thomas.
Two hundred years before the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, Margaret Brent became the first woman in the American colonies to request the right to vote.
Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondBillie Holiday | Voice of ProtestThis episode of Ballots and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was edited from the Maryland Archives biography by Kalin Thomas, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. It is read by Larzine Talley, musician who frequently performs Billie Holiday’s music and sings in her style.
In just a short lifetime, Baltimore-raised Holiday became one of the nation’s most famous African American jazz musicians. In 1938, she joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra, forming one of America’s first racially integrated bands. Her talent helped her break the segregation rules of Jim Crow, as she enjoye...2020-08-2610 minBallot & BeyondMary Risteau | Early Elected State DelegateThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.
In 1922, just two years after the 19th amendment empowered women with the right to vote, Harford County citizens elected Jarrettsville resident Mary Eliza Watters Risteau to the Maryland House of Delegates.
Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
2020-08-2611 minBallot & BeyondDuBois Circle | Inspired Fighting Against InjusticeThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Beverly Carter, Archivist of the DuBois Circle, and read by Reverend Canon Sandye A. Wilson, President of the DuBois Circle.
In 1906, a distinguished group of women in Baltimore, Maryland was handpicked to organize an auxiliary group to work with and support the activities of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois and the members of the local branch of the Niagara Movement, in their fight to address the social, political and economic injustices faced by African Americans. The DuBois Circle continues to ad...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondFlorence & Bertha Trail | Sisters in the StruggleThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans.
The Trail Sisters worked diligently to win the vote for Maryland’s women. Their writing, speeches, and constant activism did not end when the battle was won. Both sisters continued to be active in the community. Bertha was elected President of the Frederick County Republican Club in 1920 where she spearheaded the registration of new women voters.
Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the M...2020-08-2607 minBallot & BeyondMadeleine Ellicott | By Women, For WomenThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver. The reader is Dr. Diane Weaver.
Madeleine Ellicott’s lifelong goal was to improve the lives of women and children and to secure equal rights for all human beings. She fought alongside thousands of women in pursuit of women’s right to vote. She firmly believed that only equal suffrage could right the wrongs against women. After the successful passage of the 19th Amendment, Ellicott's compassion and activism for women's political equality continued to shine bright and make c...2020-08-2607 minBallot & BeyondQuaker Women of Sandy Spring | Education & EqualityThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Pamela Young. The reader is Allison Weiss, Executive Director, Sandy Spring Museum.
Sandy Spring, Maryland, was settled in 1727 by Quakers who strongly valued education and social justice. Many were active in social movements promoting peace and the abolition of slavery. Quakers believe in equality of all persons, so women are considered equals to men. With this emphasis on human equality, education, and justice, it is not surprising that Sandy Spring fostered activism for women's suffrage. In 1889, a local women's suffrage ass...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondDr. Lillian Welsh | Academic Voice for SuffrageThis episode of Ballot & Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Tina Sheller, assistant professor of Visual and Material Culture at Goucher College. The reader is Tina Sheller.
During the early years of the twentieth century, the leadership of newly-established women’s colleges played a pivotal role in advancing the cause of women’s suffrage. At the Woman’s College of Baltimore, soon to be known as Goucher College, faculty took an active role in advocating for women’s suffrage and influenced students to join the movement. One of the leading suffragists among the fac...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondHarriet Tubman | Abolitionist & SuffragistThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is adapted from a biographical sketch of Harriet Tubman written by Dr. Kate Clifford Larson. Dr. Larson is a scholar and the author of the Tubman biography, “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero.” The reader is Jean Thompson, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.
Best known for her heroism on the Underground Railroad, abolitionist Harriet Tubman also was an advocate for women’s rights and equality. When interviewed at the turn of the 20th century, Tubman not...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondMary Pickersgill | Star-Spangled SeamstressThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Amanda Shores Davis, Executive Director of the Star-Spangled Banner House. The reader is Kate Campbell Stevenson, member of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board of Directors and Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board Cultural Ambassador.
A resident of Baltimore for more than fifty years, Mary Young Pickersgill was a successful businesswoman and an outspoken advocate for the working women of the city. Mary Pickersgill’s greatest contribution to Maryland and to the entire United States was as a flag maker durin...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondMargaret Briggs Gregory Hawkins | Education is PowerThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader.
Margaret and her active West Baltimore social and civil contemporaries were engaged in social justice and sought to secure the franchise for African American women along with other women for the purpose of reaping the full benefits of citizenship, community improvement, and having a voice in the public square. Her far-reaching active memberships include the Druid Hill Branch of the YWCA, Maryland Training Sch...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondLilian Reeves Crawford | Local Suffrage LeaderThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, founder of the Women’s Equality Day Celebration across Maryland Coalition and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.
Inspired by the Suffrage Hikers that came through rural Western Maryland in 1913, Crawford helped organize and lead the Washington County Woman’s Suffrage League. Then in 1916, the organization worked hastily to host the annual Maryland state suffrage convention in Hagerstown - cementing the rural town's role in the suffrage movement. Crawford enjoyed the right and responsi...2020-08-2611 minBallot & BeyondElizabeth Forbes | Jailed for FreedomThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans.
Women from all parts of the state fought to gain the right to vote. Elizabeth Forbes of Harford County was one of those women. While many in her social situation may have preferred to remain at home and quietly participate in local clubs, Elizabeth advocated for woman suffrage on the local, state, and national level. That advocacy even landed her in a Washington, D.C. Jail. Forbes and the other women who served ti...2020-08-2608 minBallot & BeyondClara Barton | Battlefield to Ballot BoxThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Audrey Partington. The reader is Kalin Thomas.
Clara Barton is best known for founding the American Red Cross and nursing wounded soldiers during the Civil War. Lesser known is Barton’s support for reform movements like free schools, abolition, and women’s rights. She worked with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other leaders of the movement to enfranchise women.
Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallaghe...2020-08-2608 minBallot & BeyondEdna Latimer | Hiking for SuffrageThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Judy A. Carbone, President of AAUW-Garrett County Branch and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.
Edna Story Latimer was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1878. She was a staunch suffragist involved in campaigning against President Wilson and national anti-suffrage candidates, as well as one of the organizers of the Maryland Just Government League.
Latimer is best known for organizing suffragists on multi-state publicity and outreach hikes - for her leadership, she was known as General Edna L...2020-08-2609 minBallot & BeyondU.S. Senator Verda Welcome | True Public ServantThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader.
Verda Mae Freeman Welcome was an American teacher, civil rights leader, and Maryland state senator. Welcome was the second black woman to be elected to a state senate in the U.S. (Cora Mae Brown was the first in 1952). She spent 25 years in the Maryland legislature and worked to pass legislation that enforced stricter employment regulations and discouraged racial discrimination.
The advocacy, leg...2020-08-2608 minBallot & BeyondElizabeth King Ellicott | Women in GovernmentThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver, Ph.D. The reader is Diane Weaver.
Elizabeth King Ellicott was a central figure in the Maryland campaign for women’s right to vote. Her vision of a government that included women was at the center of her commitment toward state and national governmental reform. She was instrumental in changing the perception of women in society. She achieved this largely through her involvement in broadening the scope of women’s organizations and through the movement for women’s suffra...2020-08-2608 minBallot & BeyondThe Melvin Family | Rural Suffrage LeadersThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written, and read by Jean Thompson, an independent researcher and volunteer writer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. The library and archives at Goucher College were invaluable for research.
Nannie V. Melvin, a journalist, social reformer, and political activist, is one of the Maryland women credited with planting suffrage club chapters on the Eastern Shore for the Just Government League.
This episode's researcher and reader, Jean Baker, is also featured on the Ballot & Beyond podcast for her pioneering research and advoc...2020-08-2615 minBallot & BeyondLucy Fisher Gwynne Branham & Lucy Branham | Mother-Daughter Suffrage TeamThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.
Two of the gutsiest Maryland women who fought for the 19th Amendment were Lucy Fisher Gwynne Branham and her daughter Lucy Branham.
Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and supported by the Maryland Historical Trust.
2020-08-2613 minBallot & BeyondHenrietta Lacks | The ImmortalThis episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Dr. Adele Newson-Horst, Professor of English at Morgan State University. The reader is Dr. Newson-Horst.
Henrietta Lacks is best recognized for her immortal HeLa cell line (named for the first two letters of her first and last names).
Since her death in 1951, her cells divide again and again and rebuild after each division. It is because HeLa cells can be grown continuously in labs, researchers started to rely heavily on them for their experiments.
2020-08-2610 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn | African American Suffrage HistoryThrough her historical scholarship and teaching career, Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn chronicled the work of African American suffragists, whose contributions had largely been ignored or erased in the official histories of the movement. Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn work excavated these hidden stories from the historical canon, rescuing many heroic women from obscurity and adding the true diversity and challenges of the movement to the public record.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Victorine Q. Adams | Energizing African American VotersTo improve the representation of African American women and energize women to take advance of their right to vote, Victorine Q. Adams registered Baltimore's African American voters by the thousands in the 1940s. Adams would also serve on the Baltimore City Council as the first African American woman to serve as a city councilwoman in Baltimore.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Lavinia Margaret Engle | Protecting Women's Voting RightsFor all women, the ratification of suffrage did not mark the end of the fight for women’s voting rights. Women needed to stay organized to overcome any obstacles they might face in exercising their new voting rights, so Lavinia Margaret Engle, helped to establish the Maryland League of Women Voters. Engle led the organization for more than a decade, helping defend Maryland women's voting rights. Listen to this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about this dedicated suffragist, state legislative delegate, and civil servant.
2020-01-2904 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Eunice Kennedy Shriver | Special Olympics FounderAfter years of planning, Eunice Kennedy Shriver opened the first Special Olympics game in 1968. Her brother, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated just seven weeks before. Today, by one estimate, more than three million Special Olympic athletes from all 50 states and 181 countries around the world take part in year-round training for the games. Shriver believed in justice for those with different abilities. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about the founder of the Special Olympics.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Sandi Timmins | Reducing Domestic Violence Against WomenTo Sandi Timmins, equality for women includes the right to be free from domestic violence. While defending that right is everyone’s duty, as executive director of House of Ruth Maryland, Timmins has increased outreach and built innovative training programs for communities, professions, employers, and past abusers. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Timmins and House of Ruth Maryland lead help prevent domestic violence.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Maxwell, Kelly, Howard | First Female Voters of MarylandOn Maryland's Eastern Shore, the farming village of Still Pond wrote in its charter a guarantee that women taxpayers had the right to vote in all municipal elections. In 1908, 14 women registered to vote including two African American women. On election day, three of the women along with 72 men showed up to vote. Those three women who went down in history as Maryland's first women to vote are: Anna Baker Maxwell, Eliza Lily Deringer Kelly & Mary Jane Clark Howard.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Judge Diana G. Motz | Protecting Women's RightsJudge Diana G. Motz was the first Maryland woman appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She believes that her experiences as the rare woman in the classroom and in the courtroom later benefitted her as a judge. As a member of The Federal Bench, one of Judge Motz's signature opinions arose in a case that dealt with the outright prohibition of women to the Virginia Military Institute. Listen now to this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Judge Motz works on protecting women's rights.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Lucille Clifton | Maryland State Poet LaureateIn her work, poet Lucille Clifton explored the African American experience and exalted the human capacity to persevere. As a result of her aptitude for compelling and relevant writing, Clifton won major awards and widespread appreciation. This included in Clifton's distinguished role as Maryland State Poet Laureate from for over 10 years. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about poet Lucille Clifton.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Lucy Diggs Slowe | First Lady of TennisIn 1917, Baltimore-native Lucy Diggs Slowe won the first-ever championship match held by the newly established American Tennis Association and thus became the first African American woman to win a national championship in any sport. After her tennis career, Diggs Slowe went on to be appointed as the first Dean of Women at Howard University in Washington, DC. Join us for this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Lucy Diggs Slowe paved the way for African American women in academics.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: The Honorable Rita C. Davidson | Serving Maryland's Highest CourtThe Honorable Rita C. Davidson accomplished a number of firsts in her civil service career; as the first woman to serve Maryland’s cabinet, the first to serve on the intermediate appellate court, and the first to serve on Maryland's highest court.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Dr. Liebe Sokol Diamond | Renowned Pediatric Orthopedic SurgeonDr. Liebe Sokol Diamond was a pioneer in many ways, and one of the nation's leading pediatric orthopedic surgeons. Liebe was born with congenital ring constriction syndrome which caused the loss of several fingers and toes while in the womb. By the time she was a teenager, she had undergone 25 surgical procedures. As a surgeon, Dr. Sokol Diamond focused on hand and limb deformities, particularly orthopedic aspects of genetic diseases in children similar to her own and a medically underserved group at that time.
2020-01-2904 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Sara A. Whitehurst | Jury Service for WomenWhen women finally secured the right to vote in 1920 after a generations-long fight known as the Women's Suffrage movement, women did not receive the responsibility and opportunity for service via jury duty. Sara A. Whitehurst of Baltimore led the Maryland Committee for Jury Service, an umbrella group of 30 women's groups and advocated for the final passage of the law that allowed women on a federal jury in 1947. Join us for this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about the post-Suffrage fight that allowed women to be considered the peers of men in the eyes of the law.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Rachel Carson | Science WriterRachel Carson changed our world for the better, quite literally, with her 1962 book “Silent Spring,” bringing attention to the contamination of our environment by the use of pesticides. Consequently, Carson gained the title of "the mother of the modern environmental movement." Prior to her groundbreaking book, Carson, was a researcher and biologist at the U.S. Department of Interior. Her self-designed home in Silver Spring, Maryland, still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Rachel Carson spread environmental awareness through her narrative approach to writ...2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Emma Maddox Funck | Leading Maryland SuffragistEmma Maddox Funck was a Baltimore woman committed to the cause of women's suffrage. One of her major achievements as President of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association President was successfully lobbying the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to bring their 1906 annual national convention to Maryland. Funck’s legacy lies in her stewardship of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association through the critical years of the early 20th century, which brought thousands of Maryland women into political and civic life for the first time.
2020-01-2904 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Sarah Hemminger | Social Fabric for StudentsSarah Hemminger is the co-founder of Thread, an organization that supports cohorts of struggling students in the Baltimore City's public school system and builds volunteer families around them. This method aims to create a new social fabric for students who are confronting significant challenges outside of their control. Listen to this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Hemminger came to understand the effects of isolation and the benefits of strong social supports.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: The Honorable Gladys Noon Spellman | Teacher Turned LegislatorU.S. Representative Gladys Noon Spellman was a civic-minded Maryland school teacher and PTA advocate when she signed onto a reform slate running for the Prince George's County commission in 1962. She became the first woman on the commission and by 1966. In her legislative tenure, Spellman fought for cost-of-living raises against making the civil-service more vulnerable to political swings. Today, the memory of Gladys Noon Spellman is kept alive by the Maryland stretch of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway named in her honor.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Virginia Hall | Allied Spy of WWIIVirginia Hall served the United States and the Allied forces during WWII as an incredibly vital asset. The Nazis called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies” in Occupied France and called for her elimination. But Virginia Hall, who had a false leg from a childhood incidence, outran the Gestapo and helped secure victory for the Allies. Listen to this episode of Ballot & Beyond for more about the most valuable female Allied spy of World War II.
2020-01-2903 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Mary Bartlett Dixon | Suffragist Arrested for ProtestingMary Bartlett Dixon was a skilled nurse and active suffragist who was one of many arrested while silently protesting and demanding the vote for women in front of the White House in Washington, DC in 1917. As a nurse, Dixon was well-aware of the terrible conditions that imprisoned activists endured during the years of the Women's Suffrage movement. Nevertheless, she persisted. Dixon’s persistent activism and engagement with the public through her writing helped shape the course of Maryland’s suffrage movement. After ratification, Dixon founded the Talbot County League of Women Voters and continued to engage with medical and char...2020-01-2805 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Bea Gaddy | Bringing Everyone to the TableBea Gaddy was a great champion and protector of the hungry and homeless in Baltimore, Maryland. While she also sat on the Baltimore City Council for one term, she is perhaps best remembered today for hosting free Thanksgiving dinners for all.
2020-01-2804 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Sally Michel | Connecting Parks & PeopleSally J. Michel was a great champion of protecting the environment and providing access to Baltimore’s outdoors to the city’s youth.Over the course of her impactful life, Michel was on the board over 57 local and state organizations, including being a founding force for the Parks & People Foundation and Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School. She lived by the motto: Help us to remember that what we keep, we lose, and only what we give remains our own.
2020-01-2803 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Juanita Jackson Mitchell | Early African American Women in LawJuanita Jackson Mitchell was the first African American woman to practice law in Maryland. She fought for justice wherever she found injustice. Juanita Jackson Mitchell was also the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law. Significantly, her example paved the way for African American women in law. Juanita Jackson Mitchell drew from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, intellect, and determination. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn how Juanita Jackson Mitchell became a leader among women in law.
2020-01-2804 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Estelle Hall Young | Leading African American SuffragistEstelle Hall Young was a leader of civic and suffrage organizations in Baltimore, Maryland that supported African American visibility and racial equality. In a racially segregated movement, Young organized an African American Women’s Suffrage Club in 1915 to organize and activate Black women in support of the vote. Even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, African American women stayed highly-engaged in civil rights work because unlike white women, Black women still faced legal voting restrictions until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which barred racially discriminatory voting practices.
2020-01-2804 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Willa Bickham | Over 1 Million ServedIn the last 50 years there, Willa Bickham, her volunteers and supporters have fed more than one million people from Viva House in Southwest Baltimore, Maryland. Yet, she feels like she’s the one who benefitted, the one who received beneficence.
2020-01-2803 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Dr. Nancy Grace Roman | Mother of the HubbleNancy Grace Roman had a lifelong quest to become an astronomer. However, she had to overcome misconceptions about the intelligence, capabilities and proper role of women in society and academia. Despite this, she went on to become an executive at NASA. It was here that she became known as the “Mother of the Hubble” Space Telescope. Listen to this week’s episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Roman paved the way for women at NASA.
2020-01-2803 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Augusta Chissell | Civic LeaderIn the years leading up to what is known as the Women's Suffrage movement, strong female voices were coming together and laying the groundwork for women's political engagement. Augusta Chissell was a civic leader in West Baltimore, Maryland that leadership positions in the Women’s Cooperative Civic League, a club that addressed issues of housing and public health, including food and dairy purity, clean air, and refuse disposal. This position gave her close neighborhood ties and valuable connections that she could later draw upon as an officer in the Colored Women’s Suffrage Club.
2020-01-2803 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Francis Watkins Harper | Fighting for the Rights of AllFrancis Ellen Watkins Harper is a legendary civil rights activist who saw the intersection of the fight for abolition and suffrage. Harper was a published poet and author who had been born free in Baltimore in 1825 and campaigned around the country for temperance, abolition, and women’s rights. In an attempt to create social unity after the American Civil War, American Equal Rights Association members like Harper believed it was the right time to integrate gender, race, and class-based advocacy in a broad push for equality. Harpers integrated goals and ideal was largely unheaded and the suffrage movement was hi...2020-01-2806 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Jean Baker | Researching Women's HistoryHistorian and professor Jean Baker played an important role in making a place for women in the historical record. She rightly observed that women are too often excluded from historical and academic accounts and her work in the larger women's movement helped many see that the crux of history doesn't have to be primarily male political leaders; that a traditional women's role is also incredibly important to the understanding of past and current societies.
2020-01-2804 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: The Honorable Barbara Mikulski | Dean of WomenSenator Barbara Mikulski served longer in Congress than any other woman in U.S. history. During her tenure, she became known as Dean of Women. Not only did she gain this title for blazing a trail in government, including wearing slacks on the Senate Floor, but also for mentoring her colleagues.
2020-01-2803 minBallot & BeyondBallot & Beyond: Lola Carson Trax & Edna Story Latimer | Hiking for SuffrageLola Carson Trax and Edna Story Latimer led a hike of a dozen suffragists across Western Maryland in 1914. The noteworthy nature of a dozen women walking for two-weeks through hills and towns was a noteworthy occurrence and fed suffragists' goal to keep the fight in the public eye. Along their way, Trax and Latimer spoke to the press and the public and gathered signatures and new members for the Just Government League. Their suffrage hikes have gone down in history.
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