(above) Jackie Pindak at the 2019 Fishawack Festival
Women Voters Celebrated at Chatham’s Fishawack Festival
The Chatham Historical Society has sponsored events at the annual Fishawack Festival since 2014. This year, on June 8, 2019, a long-time volunteer for the Chatham Historical Society, Jackie Pindak, provided a presentation on women voters in New Jersey and in Chatham.
“This year marks the anniversary of an important event in history. One hundred years ago in 1919 Congress passed the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote,” Pindak said. “It wasn’t an easy battle to win,” she added.
Pindak explained that in New Jersey women had the right to vote as early as 1776. The first constitution of New Jersey gave all inhabitants in the colony who were of full age, who owned 50 pounds and who had resided in the country for 12 months the right to vote. However, only single women could vote because married women could not own property and therefore did not have 50 pounds. In 1807, however, the law was changed allowing only taxpaying white males to vote. The law stayed that way for 113 years until 1919 when the 19th Amendment was passed and ratified the following year.
In the 1920 elections, when women could first vote, 1400 Chathamites registered, 700 more than the in the previous election. “We can only assume that most of those 700 were women,” Pindak said.
“The first woman to be elected in the office in New Jersey was Mary Teresa Norton. She served in the House of Representatives for 26 years, from 1925 to 1951. She was a Democrat from Jersey City who fought for the working class.” This year a record number of women are serving in the House of Representatives, 102 out of 435. That is almost 25 percent of all voting members of the House of Representatives. One of them is our own Representative – Mickey Sherrill. However, only five percent of senators are women. “Exciting news, but it has taken 100 years for this to happen,” Pindak stated.
In Chatham it took 50 years before a woman was elected to the Borough Council. In 1969 Leanna Brown became the first woman council member. Three years later, in 1972, she became the first woman in New Jersey to win a seat on the State Assembly. In 1983 she was the first woman to be elected a State Senator. Chathamites had to wait for another 15 years before a woman mayor was elected. Jackie Marvin had been a council member and in 1984 became a mayor, Pindak said.
“Today, after 100 years the Borough Council is evenly divided – three male and three female council members plus a mayor. The 2018 elections, both locally and nationally, was a call to women to get out and vote, and it worked. The most women ever are now serving in Congress and in our Borough Council. The right to vote must never be taken for granted, whether you are a male or a female. It is the essence of our liberty,” Pindak pointed out. “What will the next 100 years bring? Will Congress ever truly represent the diverse population of our country? Big questions! Only the candidates and you, the voters, hold the answers,” Pindak concluded.
Pindak has been involved with the Historical Society for over 35 years, serving on the board in several capacities, as well as an officer, including several years as president. Her passion for researching and sharing the history of the borough is evident in the many programs, books and walking tours she had a part in creating. She received the Chatham Borough Community Volunteer Award in 2018.
Photo from Chatham Historical Society.
Photos from this and other events can be found online at rennamedia.com and on The Chathams page on Facebook.
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