Martha Griffiths | |
---|---|
59th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan | |
In office January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1991 | |
Governor | James Blanchard |
Preceded by | James Brickley |
Succeeded by | Connie Binsfeld |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's 17th district | |
In office January 3, 1955 – December 31, 1974 | |
Preceded by | Charles Oakman |
Succeeded by | William Brodhead |
Personal details | |
Born | Martha Edna Wright January 29, 1912 Pierce City, Missouri, U.S. |
Died | April 22, 2003 Armada, Michigan, U.S. | (aged 91)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Hicks Griffiths
(m. 1933; died 1996) |
Education | University 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.