Existing comment:
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, few women worked in the Capitol. The first woman in state government may have been Winona Merrick, who started certifying new teachers for the Department of Public Instruction in 1887. In the early 1890s, Mary Priestly began managing records in the Adjutant General's office, which she considered "the next best thing to being a soldier." In 1900, Katherine Houghton cut checks to meet the state's payroll and pay its bills.
Women At The Capitol
After women won the right to vote in 1920 and an equal rights bill passed in 1921, the number of women in state government increased. The first women lawmakers were three rural teachers elected to the Assembly in 1924, but no woman was elected to statewide office until 1960, and no woman joined the Supreme Court until 1976.
Voters didn't elect significant numbers of women to the Capitol until the 1970s. Since then, roughly 25% of lawmakers have been women in each legislature, and today five of the seven Supreme Court justices are women. |