Martha Griffiths
During her tenure in Congress, Griffith was instrumental in promoting women's rights and gender equality before the law. She was prominent in the inclusion of Title VII in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that barred employment discrimination on the basis of sex in addition to race, national origin, color, and religion.
Griffiths was also a stanch supported of the ERA, sponsoring in 1970 a resolution that brought the amendment to a vote on the House Floor. The ERA passed that year by a vote of 352 to 15, but failed in the Senate. In 1972, after continuing efforts by Griffiths and her allies, the ERA passed the House by a 354 to 24 vote, and the Senate by 84 to 8 vote. In order to push for the successful passing of the Amendment, Griffith agreed to add a deadline to the ratification. Although at first, it seemed the deadline will not be necessary, by 1979, and later 1982, after being extended, the ERA was still 3 states short from the required 38 states to ratify the amendment.
In 1974, as the ERA on its way to ratification, Griffith declined to run for an eleventh congressional term and instead focused on passing the ERA on the state level. In 1982, she became the first woman to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. She was reelected in 1986.
Known as the "Mother of ERA," for her efforts to revive the ERA in Congress, Griffith died in 2003 at her home in Armada, MI at the age of 91.
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