First Juries to Sit Women in Dallas County - Texas State Historical Marker

Review №1

Rating: 5

Date: 3 weeks ago

Review №2

Rating: 5

Date: 4 weeks ago

Review №3

Rating: 4

In the 21st century, its hard to believe that there were times when women were considered second class citizens and it wasnt all that long ago. Yes, that happened. This marker points out one of the points in time where it changed. The marker is in front of the Old Red Courthouse, facing South Record Street. It reads, Although the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted women the right to vote in 1920, women were not permitted to serve on juries in Texas until 1954. Efforts to add women to jury lists began soon after passage of the 19th amendment, when it became clear that the right of jury service would not be granted to women along with the right of suffrage. These efforts hastened during the 1930s and 1940s. During this time, local newspapers drew attention to the issue by reporting on women who were called to jury duty by mistake, and the Dallas Morning News pointed out the absurdity of a system that would allow female district judges but denied those same women the right to sit on a jury. The amendment to the Texas Constitution requiring that women serve on grand and petit juries was finally approved by voters on November 2, 1954. Although women were not officially added to the Dallas County jury selection lists until August of 1955, women who continued to be called to duty by mistake had the right to serve for the first time. In November 1954, Adelyne Dransfield, the sole female member of the jury on which she was serving, was elected as one of the first female jury foremen in Dallas County. The first occasions for women to serve on juries in Dallas County were key steps in the ongoing struggle for gender equality and the achievement of full citizenship rights for women in Dallas and throughout the nation. The first women to serve on juries in Dallas County asserted their right to complete this very important job of citizenship with legitimacy and confidence. This is marker 15464 and it was erected in 2008 by the Texas Historical Commission. There is metered street parking nearby.

Date: 4 months ago

Review №4

Rating: 5

Date: 11 months ago

Review №5

Rating: 5

Date: a year ago

Review №6

Rating: 5

Beautiful and super interesting

Date: a year ago

Review №7

Rating: 3

Stele recounting the first vote for women as well as participation as a juror

Date: 2 years ago

Review №8

Rating: 5

Date: 2 years ago

Review №9

Rating: 5

Date: 2 years ago