 Essay Contest | |
 Senator Margaret Chase Smith Presidential Campaign Rally San Francisco, CA
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“As gratifying as are the reasons advanced urging me to run, I find the reasons advanced against my running to be far
more impelling . . . because of these very impelling reasons against my running, I have decided that I shall.” –Margaret Chase Smith, 1964 With these words, Senator Smith launched her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 1964. With another presidential election upon us, the nation once again revisits the boundaries of the role of women in political life. Over four decades after Margaret Chase Smith’s bold decision and over two centuries after the founding of a republic “conceived in liberty,” no woman has won any of our 55 previous presidential contests. As for the other two branches of government, only two females have filled the 112 Supreme Court justiceships. Similarly, less than two percent of the seats in Congress have been occupied by women. In light of this historical record, we invite Maine high school seniors to assess whether the ideals of the 19th Amendment have been fulfilled and discuss what social and cultural barriers might still remain for women to overcome in the pursuit of political power, long after the legal barriers to equal participation have been removed. The Library will award $500 for first place, $250 for second place, $125 for third place, and five $25 honorable mention prizes. Essays are due by April 1, 2008. Prizes will be announced on May 1st. For sample essays and a list of past contest winners, click here. For more information, please contact David Richards.
Margaret Chase Smith Library
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Copyright ©1999 Margaret Chase Smith Library. | |
