The commonwealth of Massachusetts has the oldest state Constitution in the country, dating back to 1780.
It was written by John Adams, who used it as the model for the U.S. Constitution written seven years later. The document states that “The body politic is formed by a voluntary association of individuals: it is a social compact, by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good.”
The wisdom of Adams and his colleagues brought us protections that presaged the Bill of Rights, with the addition of a right to public education. The familiar structure of government — executive, legislative, and judicial — is first framed in the second section of the Massachusetts Constitution.
Article I states that “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.” A woman now known as Elizabeth Freeman, who was enslaved in Berkshire County, sued for her freedom under this article in 1781 and won her case.
While the constitution effectively outlawed slavery, it didn’t treat all people equally. The lofty language clearly excluded women: “It is the duty of the people, therefore, in framing a constitution of government, to provide for an equitable mode of making laws, as well as for an impartial interpretation, and a faithful execution of them; that every man may, at all times, find his security in them.”
But the voters who ratified the constitution in June 1790 were all men. While the first and second national women’s rights conventions were held in Worcester in 1850 and 1851, and other states started to give women the vote, it would take 20 more years for women to get the right to vote in the commonwealth. That right was limited to voting in school committee elections.
On Nov. 2, 1915, the male voters of Massachusetts roundly defeated a ballot question giving women the vote. Mirroring the state, Amherst, Northampton, and Greenfield voters opposed the question by a two to one margin. Bernardston was light years ahead of the rest of the state by voting for suffrage 26-7.
Article VIII of our constitution states, “In order to prevent those, who are vested with authority, from becoming oppressors, the people have a right, at such periods and in such manner as they shall establish by their frame of government, to cause their public officers to return to private life; and to fill up vacant places by certain and regular elections and appointments.” Women in the commonwealth didn’t get that right until 1920, when women in the rest of the country did.
There have been 20,000 men who have served in the state Legislature, while only 197 women have had that privilege. The first women to serve in the House were elected in 1923, and the first senator was elected in 1937. It took 65 years for the Valley to send women to the Statehouse. Carmen Buell was the elected to the House from Franklin County in 1985, followed by Shannon O’Brien in 1987 from Hampshire County. O’Brien then became the first woman elected to represent Easthampton in the Senate.
Ellen Story was elected to the House in 1992, and Nancy Flavin followed in 1993. Franklin County elected Denise Andrews (2011) followed by Susannah Whipps (2015).
Except for the seats held by O’Brien and Andrews, all those other women were succeeded by men. And, the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester Senate seat has never been held by a woman. As noted on WBUR, “If the composition of the state Legislature continues the paltry rate of change we’ve seen since 1980, we’ll reach gender parity in the year 2072.”
We have a wealth of smart and talented candidates running to fill the vacuum left by the loss of a smart, talented and seasoned delegation. But I am unabashedly voting and supporting the best women on the ballot. That may not seem fair to the talented men, and maybe it’s not.
But, in 1790, John Adams said that the people had the right “to fill up vacant spaces by certain and regular elections.” And women were denied that right for 130 years. And, for the first time in my memory there are women on the ballot for every seat. I fervently hope each seat is won by one of them, because we can’t wait until 2072.
John Adams was very smart, and so was his wife Abigail Smith Adams. In a letter to him written in 1776, she said “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
Our voice and representation are on the ballot on Sept. 4. Vote!
Clare Higgins, of Northampton, a former mayor of the city, is executive director of the nonprofit Community Action Pioneer Valley. She can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.