Suffrage in Maryland

Maryland women picketing outside of the White House.

black and white image of a woman wearing wire rimmed glasses in a white collared shirt with a dark bowtie. Identified as Lola Carson Trax

Image of Lola Carson Trax, a member of the Just Government League of Maryland from Talbot County, printed in the Maryland Suffrage News.

In August 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified. The act guaranteed a person could not be barred from voting on the basis of sex. Suffrage for women did not come without a fight. Across the country, women organized political groups. In Maryland, the Just Government League of Maryland formed to pressure government officials to grant them full rights as citizens. The league was founded by Edith Houghton Hooker in 1907 and gradually became the most prevalent suffrage league in Maryland.

On Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Just Government League operated out of their headquarters in Easton in Talbot County. Suffragists travelled from county to county on the Shore. Anywhere that the public gathered, activists worked to make sure their message for women’s suffrage was heard.