The Judge Who Believed the Cigar-Factory Girl
A working woman prosecuted a street harasser in Seattle's municipal court, and Judge Glasgow publicly praised her courage.
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.
Miss Ancie Mason, a pretty blue-eyed girl who works at the Portland Cigar Company factory, on Sixth street, rear Pike, received a marked compliment yesterday from Judge Glasgow, of the municipal court, for her courage in prosecuting a young man named Joseph Zenotti for ungentlemanly behavior on the street. Zenotti denied that he did anything wrong, but Judge Glasgow believed the girl's story, and fined him $10, in default of which he was committed. Notice of an appeal was given.
“for her courage in prosecuting a young man named Joseph Zenotti for ungentlemanly behavior on the street.”
Street harassment was rarely treated as a serious offense in 1895, and a judge's public praise for a working-class woman who testified was unusual. The item echoes today's debates over whose word counts in harassment cases.
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