Illinois Blazes A Trail (1872)
This Day in Esoteric Political History
Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
4.6 • 982 Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2021
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s March 23rd. This day in 1872, the Illinois becomes the first state to pass a law guaranteeing equal employment for women.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the state was so far ahead of the rest of the country, and the life and career of would-be-lawyer Myra Bradwell. Plus, some thoughts on the anniversary of the passage of the ACA.
Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia. |
| 0:07.0 | My name is Jody Avergan. |
| 0:09.0 | This day, March 23rd, 1872, is March 22nd, actually 1872, the state of Illinois became |
| 0:19.4 | the first state to enact a law requiring equal treatment of men and women in hiring. |
| 0:25.4 | The law stated, quote, no person shall be precluded or debarred from any occupation, profession, |
| 0:31.5 | or employment, except the military, on account of sex." |
| 0:35.6 | End quote. |
| 0:36.6 | So here to discuss why Illinois was a trailblazer in this particular regard and the very |
| 0:41.0 | interesting path to that law being passed is as always |
| 0:44.8 | Nicole Hammer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley. |
| 0:47.8 | Hello there. |
| 0:48.8 | Hello Jody. |
| 0:49.8 | Hey there. |
| 0:50.8 | So Kelly I think we have to start figuring out this path to this law by talking about a woman |
| 0:57.6 | by the name of Myra Bradwell. |
| 0:59.5 | So who is Myra Bradwell? |
| 1:01.5 | Myra Bradwell is amazing. |
| 1:04.4 | So to think that she's doing all of this |
| 1:08.8 | towards sort of the end of the 19th century in the 1860s, |
| 1:12.3 | 1869 to be exact. She passes the Illinois bar exam |
| 1:16.8 | and wants to practice as a lawyer and this is something that's really unprecedented for a woman. |
| 1:23.4 | She's not just a woman, she's married, you know, |
... |
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