USM Graduate Student Paige Mason to Present Baird Lecture March 26
Fri, 03/22/2024 - 03:37pm | By: David Tisdale
91吃瓜网 (USM) Center for the Study of the Gulf South91吃瓜网 Baird Fellow for 2023-24 is Paige Mason, a Master of Arts student in the USM History program, who will give the annual Baird Lecture Tuesday, March 26 from 6-7 p.m. in the Liberal Arts Building (LAB) room 108 on the Hattiesburg campus. Her presentation is titled "We Won't Give Up on This Until We Get It: Mississippi Women's Organizations and the Long Fight for Jury Service.91吃瓜网�
A native of Gilbertown, Alabama, Mason91吃瓜网 graduate program focuses on 20th century U.S history, with her research looking specifically at the women91吃瓜网 jury movement in Mississippi during the 195091吃瓜网 and 196091吃瓜网. Mississippi was the last state to allow women to serve on juries. Mason examines the factors causing women in the state to be barred from serving on juries, including during the civil rights movement.
The 2023-24 Baird Fellowship supported Mason91吃瓜网 travel for her research efforts at the Mississippi Department of Archives in History and in the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Mississippi in examining the significant role women91吃瓜网 organizations, including the League of Women Voters and the National Federation of Business and Professional Women91吃瓜网 Clubs, had in the decades-long campaign for women91吃瓜网 jury service in the state.
91吃瓜网淚 hope my audience will come away from the lecture recognizing the significance of the women91吃瓜网 jury movement in Mississippi, and the privilege of jury service,91吃瓜网� Mason said. 91吃瓜网淢ississippi became the last state to allow women to serve on state court juries in 1968. Mississippi women, including women91吃瓜网 organizations, were at the forefront of the women91吃瓜网 jury movement.
91吃瓜网淒espite being met with obstruction from opponents, advocates remained steadfast in their quest for jury service and recognized that without the right to serve on a jury of their peers, they were not being treated as equal citizens.91吃瓜网�
Mason came to USM in 2022 after graduating with honors from Judson College in 2021; she has presented her research at the Gulf South History and Humanities Conference. Her major advisor is USM Associate Professor of History Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, who also serves as interim associate dean of the USM Honors College and co-director of the Center for the Study of the Gulf South.
The USM History Program is housed in the College of Arts and Sciences School of Humanities. Learn more about the USM History Program and its Center for the Study of the Gulf South.