Marion Scudder Griffin Collection Processed by: Matthew Hicks 2014 Memphis and Shelby County Room Memphis Public Library and Information Center 3030 Poplar Avenue Memphis, TN 38111 Marion Scudder Griffin Collection Biographical Note Marion Scudder Griffin was the first female attorney in the state of Tennessee, as well as the first woman to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly. Born in 1879, in Greensboro, Georgia, little is known about Marion Scudder Griffin’s early life. In fact, an 1880 Greensboro census lists Marion S. Griffin as six years’ old, which places her birth year in 1874, five years earlier. Griffin worked for some time as a stenographer in Greensboro, where she became interested in law. Upon moving to Memphis, she worked in Judge Thomas M. Scruggs’ office as a stenographer. She also began studying for the acquisition of her own legal license. On February 15, 1900, she was certified by Chancellor Dehaven and Circuit Court Judge Estes for admission to the bar. Despite this, the Tennessee Supreme Court denied Griffin a legal license on the basis of her sex twice, in 1900 and 1901. Determined, Griffin began to study at the University of Michigan’s Law School, earning a Bachelor of Laws degree by 1906. She was one of two women in her graduating class. Returning to Tennessee, she spurred the state legislature to pass a law that would give women the right to practice law. Though she was initially “greeted with wisecracks and gaffaws,” she convinced the assembly and a bill was passed on February 13, 1907, and ratified by Governor Patterson two days later.1 On July 1st of that same year, Griffin was licensed by the Tennessee Supreme Court and sworn in as a member of the local bar. She went on to practice law in Memphis for over 40 years. Her legal practice resided in the Goodwyn Institute Building from 1907 to 1949. In 1923, Griffin became the first woman ever elected to the Tennessee General Assembly. As was noted in a Commercial Appeal article of August 3, 1950, Griffin had the support of public figures like C.P.J. Mooney, editor of the Commercial Appeal, during her campaign. She served a single term. During that time she headed the House Social Welfare Committee and promoted various legislation affecting women and children. Griffin retired in 1949. She had been an active member of the Memphis Business and Professional Women’s Club and the Memphis League of Women Voters, and she was one of the charter members of the Memphis Chapter of the American Association of University Women. She died January 30, 1957, reportedly age 78, and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery. 1 Frances Loring, “Marion Griffin – First Female Attorney Licensed to Practice Law in the State of Tennessee,” Newsletter of the Tennessee Lawyer’s Association for Women (August 1994) 1 Marion Scudder Griffin Collection Scope and Content The Marion Scudder Griffin Collection is contained within a single box measuring .42 linear feet. The donor is unknown. The collection consists of personal documents, collected documents pertaining to Marion Griffin’s life and death, and newspaper clippings from a disassembled scrapbook that cover many of the details of her life. The newspaper clippings give a sense of Memphians’ and Tennesseans’ reaction to Marion Griffin’s success as a female attorney and legislator as well as the political and social climate of her time. The collection is organized into four folders. The first folder contains some of Marion Griffin’s personal documents, including several papers related to the will and inheritance of her aunt, Margaret L. Scudder. The second folder contains miscellaneous documents pertaining to Griffin’s life and death. The third and fourth folders contain newspaper clippings, taken from a scrapbook of Griffin’s life. A close relative or Griffin herself likely collected the documents in the scrapbook. A scant few documents cover her early life, while most pertain to her career as a lawyer and her tenure as a representative in the Tennessee General Assembly, up until her death in 1957. Researchers interested in Memphian woman from this period or the suffrage movement in Memphis should examine the Mary Graham Love Papers, the J.B. Mann Suffrage Collection, and the Susanne Conlan Scruggs Collection, who was the wife of Judge Thomas M. Scruggs, for whom Griffin worked after moving to Memphis. Single photocopies or scans of unpublished writings in these papers may be made for purposes of scholarly research. Memphis and Shelby County Room Rights Statement While the Memphis Public Library & Information Center may house an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law. Users are solely responsible for determining the existence of such instances and for obtaining any other permissions and paying associated fees that may be necessary for the intended use. Any image from the library's collection published in any form must cite as the source: Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center. For all requests, please contact the History Department at 901.415.2742 or [email protected]. 2 Marion Scudder Griffin Collection Container List Folder Folder Number Description of Contents Number Name of Items 1 Personal 13 Contains a genealogical mapping of the Scudder family; Documents documents pertaining to Marion Griffin’s executorship of her aunt’s will, including the will itself; a biographical memoranda taken by the Tennessee Historical Committee; a pamphlet of June 1919 that lists the active members in the Scudder Association of America; and the deed to the land inherited by Marion Griffin from her aunt 2 Misc. 15 Contains a scan of pages from the Southwestern Reporter Documents detailing the TN Supreme Court’s decision to deny Marion Griffin a legal license; a correspondence with a University of Michigan Law School recorder confirming Griffin’s graduation in 1906; correspondence with Elmwood Cemetery; scans of newspaper articles pertaining to Marion Griffin; images of the grave where she was interred; biographical sketches from the Memorial Book of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association; death certificates of Marion Griffin and her family; census data from Greensboro, Georgia, taken in June 1880; and a scan of a portrait of Marion S. Griffin 3 Newspaper 15 Contains newspaper clippings pertaining to the life and Clippings deeds of Griffin from The Tennessean, The Press, The and Misc. Commercial Appeal, The Chattanooga News, The 1/2 Memphis Press, The Nashville Banner, The Evening Tennessean, and other regional papers, taken from a disassembled scrapbook 4 Newspaper 11 Contains more newspaper clippings from The Clippings Tennessean, The Nashville Banner, The Evening and Misc. Tennessean, The Commercial Appeal, The Chattanooga 2/2 News, The Memphis Press, and other regional papers, taken from a disassembled scrapbook 3 Marion Scudder Griffin Collection Folder One Item 1 Handwritten note, authorship unknown, detailing the ancestry of Marion Scudder Griffin and her relation to Margaret L. Scudder Folder One Item 2 A genealogy of the Scudder family, from 1643 to 1933; some of this account is attributed to “Genealogy of Early Settlers of Trenton & Ewing, Old Hunterdon County, New Jersey,” published in 1883, while later information was likely added by Marion Griffin Folder One Item 3 A quit claim deed transferring real estate from Margaret L. Scudder to her niece, Marion Griffin, signed on December 21, 1925 Folder One Item 4 A newspaper clipping from the Daily News, November 5, 1929, describing the will of the late Margaret L. Scudder Folder One Item 5 A biographical memoranda issued by the Tennessee Historical Committee, filled out by Marion Griffin on January 1, 1923 Folder One Item 6 A genealogical account of the Scudder family Folder One Item 7 A copy of the will of Margaret L. Scudder, whose executrix was Marion Griffin Folder One Item 8 Court documents detailing the execution of Margaret L. Scudder’s will Folder One Item 9 Another copy of the will of Margaret L. Scudder, signed by Margaret L. Scudder, Katherine Watson, Frances Wolf, and J.P. Houston Folder One Item 10 Letters Testamentary addressed to Marion Griffin for the legal execution of Margaret L. Scudder’s will Folder One Item 11 Active Membership List of the Scudder Association of America as of June 1919 Folder One Item 12 A reference to “Genealogy of Early Settlers of Trenton & Ewing, “Old Hunterdon County,” New Jersey,” possibly incomplete Folder One Item 13 A warranty deed from Country Club Place to Margaret Scudder for Lot 149 of the Country Club Place Subdivision of Shelby County Folder Two Item 1 Two copies of an article in The Commercial Appeal from Friday, February 22, 1907, detailing Marion Griffin’s acquisition of a license to practice law Folder Two Item 2 Photocopies of pages (746-749) from the Southwestern Reporter that contain the decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court to bar Marion Griffin from legal practice, delivered by the dissenting Judge J. Wilkes and titled “Ex parte Griffin” Folder Two Item 3 Correspondence between Frances Grant Loring and University of Michigan Law School Recorder Cathy Metcalf confirming the validity of Marion Griffin’s graduation from the aforementioned school in 1906 Folder Two Item 4 Correspondence between Marion Griffin and the Board of Managers at Elmwood Cemetery detailing her future burial arrangements Folder Two Item 5 Photocopies of newspaper articles about Marion Griffin. Titles