Esther Griffin White

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Esther G. White's Congressional Campaign

Esther Griffin White was very different from many women of the beginning of the 20th century. Women during said era were not supposed to stick their nose into politics, but to work in domestic fields and taking care of the children at home. Since Esther was a single woman without any children, she did not do any domestic work; instead she was politically engaged in the causes of her time. This can be seen in her newspaper, The Little Paper. Esther was a political activist: she was a suffragist, she was anti-World War I and anti-racism, she defended equality, and she even defied laws that she thought were not appropriate. In addition to all that, she also ran for the position of mayor in Richmond, Indiana several times. Esther was the first Indiana woman on the ballot, as well as the first Indiana woman to run for a congressional seat. 

-Bemba Diarra