MENU

Sections

  • Home
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
  • The Arts and Design
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
  • Community Opinion
  • Donate to the Chestertown Spy
  • Free Subscription
  • Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy

More

  • Support the Spy
  • About Spy Community Media
  • Advertising with the Spy
  • Subscribe
May 15, 2025

Chestertown Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown

  • Home
  • About
    • The Chestertown Spy
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising & Underwriting
      • Advertising Terms & Conditions
    • Editors & Writers
    • Dedication & Acknowledgements
    • Code of Ethics
    • Chestertown Spy Terms of Service
    • Technical FAQ
    • Privacy
  • The Arts and Design
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Public Affairs
    • Ecosystem
    • Education
    • Health
  • Community Opinion
  • Donate to the Chestertown Spy
  • Free Subscription
  • Talbot Spy
  • Cambridge Spy
9 Brevities Archives

Chestertown Flashback: Honoring Kent County’s First Women’s Vote In Maryland

November 1, 2024 by Historical Society of Kent County 1 Comment

Share

 

Election Day is just days away: Tuesday, November 5, 2024. In honor of electoral democracy, this week’s Flashback Photo shows the Beta Sigma Phi sorority’s commemoration in Chestertown’s 250th anniversary parade of the first women to vote in Maryland, in the Kent County town of Still Pond.

The sign carried by a marcher following behind the triumphant banner is in error. Fourteen, not 12,  women from Still Pond registered to vote in 1908, after the town extended the franchise to any taxpayer over 21 year of age, including 2 African American women. Mary Jane Clark Howard, Anne Baker Maxwell, and Lillie Deringer Kelley cast their votes in a municipal election that year.

Disappointingly, Still Pond rescinded the right shortly thereafter, leaving women voiceless in elections for another 12 years, until the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. Here in  Maryland, it took a further 21 years for the General Assembly in Annapolis to put its stamp of approval on women’s suffrage, finally ratifying the amendment in 1941. The Historical Society urges everyone who has the right to vote to exercise that right. Image courtesy of the Historical Society of Kent County. 

Many thanks to Nikki Strong and Betty Ann Strong, who emailed us about last week’s snapping turtle image. The man in the photo is Albert “Snooks” Strong. The boy is his son, and Nikki’s father-in-law, Albert “Buffalo” Strong, Jr. Betty Ann tells us the photo was taken in 1952 at Swan Point, in southern Charles County, Maryland, and that Snooks died in 1973 and Buffalo in 1977.

All are welcome at the Historical Society from 5 – 7 pm on November 1, when the identities of the community members in the SPACE exhibition will be revealed–including some conflicting information and some remaining gaps to fill. If you can help us record accurate information, or just want to see photos from Chestertown’s Hollywood film shoot, visit the Bordley History Center on First Friday, or any time before November 18.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 9 Brevities, Archives

Talbot’s FiRST™ brings bold mental health solutions to county’s First Responders State pays out $5.4 million following IRS audit

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Letters to Editor

  1. Bill Anderson says

    November 1, 2024 at 3:54 PM

    “Chestertown Flash Back”???? Seems far more like the article should be properly captioned “Still Pond Flash Back”. Certainly for whatever reason, it appears the parade recognizing “Women Voting” was held in Chestertown for whatever reason, but the written article correctly informs us that it was in Still Pond that Maryland women first voted. The article seems to imply that Still Pond may have been an organized muni9cipality with some sort of governing body which initially authorized women voting, but later rescinded that. Still POnd is not presently a municipality.

    Reply

Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article

We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.

Copyright © 2025

Affiliated News

  • The Cambridge Spy
  • The Talbot Spy

Sections

  • Arts
  • Culture
  • Ecosystem
  • Education
  • Health
  • Local Life and Culture
  • Spy Senior Nation

Spy Community Media

  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Advertising & Underwriting

Copyright © 2025 · Spy Community Media Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in