The Success of Women on Juries
Despite skeptics, female jurors in Washington Territory receive praise for their conscientious and capable service.
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.
That women as jurors have advanced in public esteem since the beginning of the present term of court, three weeks ago, cannot be disputed by even the most skeptical. They served, to the number of about a score on both grand and petit juries, and so far as reported have acquitted themselves with the utmost credit. There cannot be a doubt they did their duty in a more conscientious manner than the men serving on the same juries, nor can there be a question that the men so serving were also moved to a finer sense of the trust and responsibility by the presence of the women. The women displayed neither stupidity, obstinacy nor ignorance. The term has been a clean one, and after this term the only talk of dispensing with women on juries will come from those interested in crime and friendly to it.
“They will not be baffled, and bad plays are suppressed, and their power to do evil... is abated.”
This piece celebrates a fleeting victory for women's suffrage in Washington, which was granted by the Territorial Legislature in 1883 but faced intense legal pushback from the courts shortly after, resulting in a turbulent era for women's civic participation.
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