Martha Griffiths

Martha Griffiths
59th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
In office
January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1991
GovernorJames Blanchard
Preceded byJames Brickley
Succeeded byConnie Binsfeld
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Michigan's 17th district
In office
January 3, 1955 – December 31, 1974
Preceded byCharles Oakman
Succeeded byWilliam Brodhead
Personal details
Born
Martha Edna Wright

(1912-01-29)January 29, 1912
Pierce City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedApril 22, 2003(2003-04-22) (aged 91)
Armada, Michigan, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Hicks Griffiths
(m. 1933; died 1996)
EducationUniversity of Missouri, Columbia (BA)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (LLB)

Martha Wright Griffiths (January 29, 1912 – April 22, 2003) was an American lawyer and judge before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1954. Griffiths was the first woman to serve on the House Committee on Ways and Means and the first woman elected to the United States Congress from Michigan as a member of the Democratic Party. She was "instrumental" in including the prohibition of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[1] In 1982, Griffiths was also the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Michigan, as Matilda Dodge Wilson had been appointed the first female lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1939.

  1. ^ "Martha Griffiths and the Equal Rights Amendment". National Archives: The Center for Legislative Archives. Retrieved 2013-05-20.