- Title
- Our state
-
-
- Date
- June 1999
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Our state
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tar heel history
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bv Billy An Inn
Pandora’s Box
For Lillian Exum Clement a funny thing happened on the way to the courthouse in 1921 —
she was elected to the N.C. General Assembly, becoming the first female legislator in the South. And
her landslide victory opened the door for Southern women to run for public office.
The 1999 North Carolina
General Assembly seals 29
female legislators — 22 in the
House of Representatives and seven in
the Senate, thanks to Lillian F.xum
Clement of Buncombe County. In the
1921 session at age 27. she was the
first woman legislator in the South,
having been elected by men
only in the 1920 election —
months before the 19th
Amendment to the t'.S.
Constitution granted women
the right to vote.
Clement's landslide victory,
polling 10.368 votes to her
opponent's -II — the largest
majority in the state at that
time — encouraged women
in the state and South to run
for public office. And. believe
it or not. her campaign
expenses were only S25.
Newspapers throughout the
nation congratulated the
men of western North
Carolina for setting such a
precedent.
She was cordially welcomed
in Raleigh. Mrs. T.W. Bickett.
wife of the governor, enter¬
tained her at the mansion;
Chief Justice Walter Clark
had her to lunch at his home;
and Mrs. B.ll. Griffin, president of the
state's largest Woman's Club in
Raleigh, hosted a reception introduc¬
ing her to the members.
Politically correct
Yes. Clement was a curiosity — and
many came to peek in to see her sit¬
ting as inconspicuously as any otliei
member. She wasn't inactive either. In
a day when women were not consid¬
ered a part of government and the
political process, Clement was not an
ornamental first termer in the House.
She introduced 17 hills. 16 of whic h
became state law. Usually the first to
arrive in the morning, she introduced
in the first 10 days her initial bill —
tc» prohibit railroads from hiring illit¬
erates as firemen, brakemen, and
flagmen.
The measures for which she is l>est
known called for private voting booths
and the secret ballot; the "pure milk
bill" forcing tuberculin testing and
inoculation of dairy herds, plus sani¬
tary barns; and a reduction from 10 tc*
five years of abandonment necessary
for a divorce decree.
Clement also lalrored lor yellow cau¬
tion lights on stop-and-go traffic sig¬
nals; the sterilization o! the mentally
incompetent: and state sup¬
port for a home for unwed
mothers in Asheville.
As W.T. Bost. the capilol
correspondent foi the
Greensboro Daily Mews, wrote:
"Miss Clement is taking her
work very seriously and feels
rather responsible to the
women of the- state for the
general impression she makes
as the state's first woman rep¬
resentative. She doesn't want
to do anything spectacular or
disturbing or out of the ordi¬
nary. but she does want to be
accepted there as a matter of
fact, because her constituency
wanted her there, and
because it is right."
To the Raleigh News and
Observer she said: "I am. bv
nature, very conservative,
hut I am firm in my convic¬
tions. I want to blaze a trail
for other women (who will
be) in politics, but you have to start
a thing."
Although a freshman in the House,
as a special honor, the speaker invit¬
ed her to preside during the debate
ovei a bill authorizing a Sf>0 million
expenditure for “good roads."
In a day when women were not
considered a part of government and
the political process,
Clement was not an ornamental first
termer in the House.
She introduced 17 bills,
16 of which became state law.
Usually the first to arrive
in the morning, she
introduced in the first 10 days
her initial bill — to prohibit
railroads from hiring illiterates as
firemen, brakemen, and flagmen.
June 1999 Our State 25
