Women Serve on Grand Jury in Chehalis
A landmark moment in Washington Territory as women take their seats in the courtroom.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The regular term of the District Court for Lewis county convened at Chehalis last Monday, with Judge Greene on the bench. A full docket is reported. The Grand Jury, consisting of sixteen persons, has been in session and found several true bills. There was quite a sensation in the courtroom when two of the grand jurors were excused and the judge instructed the sheriff to summon two ladies. Mrs. L.J. Wagley was the first lady called but was excused, as she had been but three months in the Territory. The two ladies chosen were Mrs. M.E. Hallowell and Mrs. Mary Shephard. Several ladies were also chosen on the Petit Jury.
“There was quite a sensation in the courtroom when two of the grand jurors were excused and the judge instructed the sheriff to summon two ladies.”
This 1884 report reflects the brief, revolutionary window of women's suffrage in Washington Territory (1883-1887), before it was struck down by the courts. It is a striking reminder that the civic participation of women in the Pacific Northwest was a hard-fought, oscillating right long before it became national law.
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