Women in Ohio
Women have played an important part in the history of Ohio.
The first permanent white women settlers arrived in the Northwest Territory in 1788, and contributed profoundly to the survival of the earliest settlements. As the settlements grew into communities, women helped develop churches and schools. Women also played a part in working for social justice.
Advocate Lucy Stone and author Harriet Beecher Stowe changed not just Ohio, but the nation through their work for the abolitionist movement. Many Ohio women in the mid-nineteenth century pursued social equality with men.
By the 1870s, there were more than 30 different women's suffrage organizations in Ohio. In May 1885, the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association (OWSA) was formed in Painesville. The OWSA chose not to affiliate the organization with any of the national woman suffrage groups of this era, rather focusing on a campaign to change local and state laws that prohibited women from voting. Unlike many organizations of women in the late nineteenth century, the OWSA did not discriminate and encouraged African-American women to participate in its efforts.
In the early twentieth century, the OWSA became even more active, campaigning for a state constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. Women ultimately received the right to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Ohio was the fifth state to ratify this amendment.
Women have also served Ohio in all branches of government; being elected to seats in the General Assembly, the Supreme Court of Ohio, and the offices of attorney general, auditor of state, secretary of state and treasurer of state.
A little more than half (51.4%) of the state’s population is female. Around the state, 4.6 million women over the age of 16 are part of Ohio’s workforce. There are about 230,000 women-owned businesses in Ohio, employing more than 260,000 people and generating $32.2 billion in revenue.
Ohio women have been trailblazers in all walks of life. Some famous Ohio women include:
Annie Oakley, an expert sharpshooter who traveled with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, was born in Darke County in 1860. Oakley gained fame around the world because of her skills, and continued to set records in her sixties.
Writer and activist Gloria Steinem was born in Toledo. After graduating from Smith College, Steinem started a career in journalism, where she became a respected investigative reporter. Steinem was one of the founders of both New York and Ms. Magazines. As the editor of New York, Steinem promoted social activism and equality for women.
Gertrude Walton Donahey was born in Tuscarawas County in 1908. In 1970, she became the first woman to be elected to a statewide office when the voters of Ohio made her treasurer of state. Donahey served as treasurer until 1983 and was voted president of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers.
Dayton native Erma Bombeck wrote “At Wit’s End,” a newspaper column that ran for more than 30 years. Bombeck graduated from the University of Dayton and became a reporter and author. After marrying her college sweetheart, she dedicated her life to her family but later returned to journalism, with her home life as the inspiration for her columns and books. Bombeck challenged the view that women were happy with only being able to care for their families.
Halle Berry is an award-winning actress from Cleveland. Berry has won Emmy and Golden Globe awards and is the only woman of Aftican-American descent to have won the Academy Award for Best Actress, receiving that honor in 2001. Berry was born Maria Halle Berry in Cleveland in 1966. Berry's parents selected her middle name from Halle's Department Store, which was then a local landmark. Berry graduated from Bedford High School and worked in in the children's department of Higbee's Department store. She then studied at Cuyahoga Community College and won Miss Teen All-American in 1985 and Miss Ohio USA in 1986 prior to starting her acting career. Berry has starred in Jungle Fever, Queen, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, the X-Men series, Swordfish, Monster's Ball, Die Another Day, Catwoman and Things We Lost in the Fire.
Cleveland attorney Florence Ellinwood Allen was instrumental in breaking barriers for women. Allen was the first woman to hold the office of Assistant County Prosecutor, the first woman elected to a Court of Common Pleas, and when she was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1922, she became the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court of any state. In 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, the first appointment of a woman to any federal bench of general jurisdiction. She eventually became the chief judge of that court and served in that capacity until her retirement in 1959.
In 1993, Lorain native Toni Morrison became the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison has earned several honors for her work, including a Pulitzer Prize for her 1987 novel Beloved. Morrison, who earned degrees from Howard University and Cornell University, has also worked as an editor and played a significant role in bringing African-American literature into the mainstream.