Margaret Laird

Image from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C., National Woman’s Party Records, Group I, Container I:153, Folder: Laird, Margaret B.

Margaret Laird (1861-1978) of Essex County a leader in the women’s suffrage movement, and was one of the first two women elected to the New Jersey Assembly.

Laird served as vice president of the Women’s Political Union and chair of the National Woman Suffrage Association at its Newark chapter. She was also the state treasurer of the National Women’s Party. Laird served in the Assembly for two terms; while an active member, she helped establish the state’s juvenile court law and supported legislation related to equal salaries for women employed by the New Jersey government. She spent the years between 1926 and 1932 as president of the Newark Women’s Republican Club.

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References:

Laird, Margaret. 2010. Christian Science re-explored: a challenge to original thinking. Los Angeles: Margaret Laird Foundation. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/744405584

Laird, Margaret L. 2017. Civic monuments and the Augustales in Roman Italy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/979259707

Questions to Explore

How did Laird receive leading positions in many of the organization’s she was involved in?

What did Laird do to establish the state’s juvenile court law?

What did Laird do for the legislation on equal salaries for women employed by the New Jersey government?

Additional Resources

Bullough, Vern L.. American Nursing: A Biographical Dictionary: Volume 3. Ukraine: Springer Publishing Company, 2000.