Myrtle Cain

Myrtle Cain
Minnesota House of Representatives
In office
1923–1924
Personal details
Born(1894-04-11)April 11, 1894
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedFebruary 6, 1980(1980-02-06) (aged 85)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.

Myrtle Agnes Cain (April 11, 1894 – February 6, 1980) was an American politician and labor activist. She served as president of the Women's Trade Union of Minneapolis and was a member of the Minnesota Farmer Labor Party. In 1923 and 1924, Cain served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Governor Wendell Anderson named February 15, 1973 "Myrtle Cain Day."[1] She is one of 25 women recognized on the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Memorial in Saint Paul.

Early life

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Irish immigrant parents, Cain went to public schools in the city and to St. Anthony's Convent.

Career

Union work

Cain led a strike with the Telephone Operators Union in 1918. She was also a member of the Women's Trade Union League of Minneapolis and the National Woman's Party.[2]

Minnesota House of Representatives

After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified and upheld in the 1922 Supreme Court case of Leser v Garnett, Cain and three other women won seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives in the 1922 election. During Cain's single session in office (1923-1924), she co-sponsored a bill about anti-masking, which prevented Ku Klux Klan members from wearing masks or hoods in public (House File No. 138 that became Minnesota Laws of 1923, Chapter 160[3]).[4] This ended up being the first of fifteen similar bills to be passed in the United States.[2]

Post-electoral career and activism

After serving in the state house, she served on the staff of United States Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota.

In 1923, Cain advocated for passage of an Equal Rights Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, but the effort ultimately failed.[1] In 1973, Cain spoke at the state capitol in favor of the federal Equal Rights Amendment.[2]

Later life and death

Cain died in Minneapolis.[5][6]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "It's a Fact! (Myrtle Cain)". Session Weekly, St. Paul: 35. March 13, 1992.
  2. ^ a b c "Do You Know?". Session Weekly, St. Paul: 13. February 28, 1997.
  3. ^ "1923, Regular Session - Minnesota Session Laws". www.revisor.mn.gov. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  4. ^ "Cain, Myrtle Agnes "Agnes Myrtle" - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present". www.leg.state.mn.us. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  5. ^ Minnesota Legislators Past and Present-Myrtle Cain
  6. ^ "Myrtle Cain, one of first women in Legislature, dies". Minneapolis Tribune. Associated Press. February 8, 1980. p. 18. Retrieved July 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.


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