League toasts 19th amendment anniversary Johnson, other women leaders celebrated By Jennifer Preyss Staff Writer Friday, August 28, 2009 Daily Advance
Currituck — Eighty-nine years after women first gained the right to vote in this country, Currituck women continue to be trailblazers. Not only have Currituck women obtained political offices once reserved for men — county commissioner, school board and clerk of Superior Court — the county is also home to one of the handful of female sheriffs in North Carolina.
“I think everyone in this room is a leader,” Currituck League of Women Voters president Nancy Proctor said, speaking to a room of about a dozen Currituck women Thursday. “I thank all of you for the leadership you provide to the county and the role model you provide for our daughters.”
The occasion was the League of Women Voters’ celebration of the 89th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the attendees included Currituck Sheriff Susan Johnson, Board of Education members Sharon Martz and Pat Stretar and Clerk of Superior Court Shelia Tyler. Each of the women were called to the front of the room where they received a gift of stationary printed with historical photos of the women’s suffrage movement that resulted, in August 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Proctor noted that women have come a long way since the suffragettes fought for women’s rights. But there is still a ways to go before society treats women and men equally in all aspects of life, she said. “Some of those (suffragettes) sacrificed so much of themselves and even gambled with their lives for women to vote,” Proctor said. “Many of you in this room have (made) equal sacrifices. … It’s an honor to honor you.” Proctor noted that North Carolina women have achieved a number of firsts in recent years. Elizabeth Dole, for example, was the state’s first U.S. senator. And Bev Perdue, elected last fall, is the state’s first female governor after serving as the state’s first female lieutenant governor. Referring to Johnson’s status as the county’s first female sheriff, Proctor said it shows no door should be closed to women. “That just shows our girls that you can be anything,” she said. Tyler quipped that though she wasn’t the first female clerk of Superior Court in Currituck, she was the “youngest” when she was hired. Other honorees who did not attend Thursday’s celebration include Commissioner Janet Taylor, Planning Board members Fannie Newbern and Lynn Wilson, county historian Barbara Snowden, County Clerk to the Board Gwen Keene and Airport Advisory Board Vice-President Denise Hall. “I’m amazed at the involvement of women in this county who serve on so many boards,” Proctor said.
Filed under: Celebrations
