Vivian V. Simpson (1903-1987)
MSA SC 3520-13450
Maryland Secretary of State, 1949-51
Extended Biography:
Vivian Simpson -- confident, feisty, and headstrong -- is exactly
the
type of woman one would expect to break new ground in the
male-dominated
world of law and politics. Best remembered as the first female
secretary
of state in Maryland, Simpson fought for women's equality from her
early
days as a controversial coed at the University of Maryland.
One of the pioneer women lawyers in Maryland, Vivian Simpson was born
in 1903, just one year after another famous Maryland woman, Etta
Maddox, battled to become the very first female lawyer in the
state. Prior to 1902, only male citizens could practice law, but
Maddox challenged the law all the way to the state legislature.
Signed on April 8,
1902, Chapter 399 Section 3A of the Laws of Maryland of 1902 declares:
“Women
shall be permitted to practice law in this State upon the same terms,
conditions, and requirements, and to the same extent as provided in
this Article with reference to men. No discrimination shall be made on
account of race, creed, complexion or previous condition of servitude.”1 Thanks to the work of Etta
Maddox, a new road was open for Vivian Simpson. Before her
carreer began, Vivian grew up
in idyllic Takoma Park, a rapidly growing suburb on the border of
Washington,
DC. Her father, Joseph B. Simpson, was a grocer in Washington and
took an active interest in the new community where he lived. Her
mother,
Laura G. Simpson, like the majority of women of her social class, was a
homemaker.2 Vivian attended
the McKinley Technical High School and, after graduation, entered the
University of Maryland,
in nearby College Park.
In 1921, when Simpson matriculated, women were still a relatively new
part of the campus of the University of Maryland. The first woman
had been admitted only five years before in 1916. When Adele H.
Stamp joined the faculty as the university’s first dean of women in
1922, only ninety-three women were enrolled, including Simpson.
All of the women shared a dormitory which had previously been a World
War I barrack.3 Vivian
embraced co-ed life and,
by the end of her second year, had served as the representative of
freshmen
women to the Student Council, a female delegate for the Baltimore
Pan-American
Convention, a member of the school newspaper staff, treasurer of the
Latin-American
Club, and secretary of a literary society.4
While busy and successful in her classes, Simpson chafed at
rules in place for women that did not apply to men, such as lights out
by 10:30 p.m., and a policy of signing in and out to leave campus.5 Her outspoken behavior soon
attracted the attention of Dean Stamp and the president of the
university, Dr. Woods.
During her second year, Vivian stirred up not one but two
controversies. First, she and two other women attempted to found
a chapter of the national sorority, Chi Omega, on campus. The
group of girls wanted more than teas and dances, however. They
planned to use the sorority to band together to fight the unfair rules
concerning women.6 One of the
girls, Esther Williams, complained that “the only way we can get
anything around here is to stick together and as an organized body
rebel against the rules.”7 The
university resisted by claiming that the ten
charter members did not follow the proper procedures to establish a
campus
organization. In addition to their displeasure concerning Chi
Omega,
the administration seethed over the affidavits several women made to a Washington
Post reporter. The women accused several unnamed university
officials
of acting inappropriately. One student claimed she had been
invited
to a “petting party,” leading the Post writer to call the
university a “pajama paradise.”8
The student
body held a vote to condemn the Post article and dismiss the
students
who had signed the affidavits. Not one to back down easily, only
Vivian
and one other student voted against the resolution. Editors of
the
campus paper, the Diamondback, still wanted the students
expelled
and pressured the administration not to give in to “attempts of any
‘Amazon-hued’
sorority to gain recognition.”9
Dr. Woods may very well have been furious over the media attention, but
he did not officially know who had spoken to the press. Instead,
he
used a more backhanded approach to dismiss the women. In the
summer of 1924, Dr. Woods mailed letters to Vivian Simpson and one
other student, Virginia Flanagan, declaring that the women would not be
allowed to register for the fall unless they resigned from the
sorority. Simpson refused and took the university to court.
While the real reason Dr. Woods wanted to expel Vivian was probably for
her affidavit to the Post, lawyers for the university had to
find more official causes for her dismissal. All they could come
up
with were violations concerning the use of a curling iron and making
fudge
past lights out, along with a vague charge of causing dissent among the
female students. The “illegal fudge” charge became legendary in
later
press about Simpson’s career. She remembered that she did not
make
the fudge, only ate it; the other girls often accused her of “being
long
on the eating and short on the beating.”10
During the actual trial, press coverage sometimes resembled a
three-ring circus, but serious issues were at stake. In the lower
court, Simpson won a writ of mandamus stating that “she wanted only
those privileges given to male students,” and the judge ruled that Dr.
Woods should not have asked Vivian if she had signed the affidavit.11 The Simpson case
demonstrates how young women chafed at the protective rules that
governed their lives as American universities went co-ed in the early
twentieth century. While she lost her case in the Maryland Court of
Appeals, Simpson probably gained some satisfaction from the fact
that Dr. Woods’
tenure was never the same. He resigned a year after the court
case,
in part due to pressure generated from the Washington Post
investigation.
Simpson may have lost her first appeal for the rights of women, but she
went on to a long and illustrious career full of pioneering
“firsts.” In 1924, she transferred to George Washington
University, where she earned straight As, and graduated with a B.A in
1925.12 Her early
experiences prepared her for a career in law. Concerning her
court battle, she later remarked: “it was
the best thing that ever happened to me . . . it prepared me to
practice
law. It toughened me. Before that, I was as innocent as a
babe
in arms.”13 She attended the
George Washington School of Law, where she was one of only seven female
students. Graduating in 1927, Simpson was awarded the Order of
the
Coif for her distinguished academic record. She was admitted to
the
Maryland bar on April 3, 1928; soon after, she opened her own practice
in
Rockville and was joined by her brother, Joseph B. Simpson, Jr.
Vivian
was the first woman to practice law in Montgomery County and worked
steadily
at Simpson and Simpson until her retirement in 1980. While she
disliked
being called a “woman lawyer,” she knew how to avoid the typical career
paths for women of her day. Vivian never learned to type, fearing
that
she would end up as a stenographer.14
Instead, she was a steadfast champion of women’s equality before
the law and often addressed civic organizations and women’s clubs on
the
topic.
In addition to practicing law, Vivian V. Simpson left her mark on
Maryland politics at both the state and local levels. In 1938,
she was the first female attorney appointed to the Board of County
Commissioners for Montgomery County; this board was the predecessor of
the County Council. In 1949, Simpson was the first woman to be
elected President of the Montgomery County Bar Association. As
president, she convinced the county to provide a fund to maintain a law
library in its Court House.15
She first served at the state
level in 1940, where she was appointed by Governor
Herbert R. O’Conor to the State Industrial Accident Committee,
which later became the Worker’s Compensation Commission. After
serving
on that committee for seven years, she was named vice-chair of the
Commission to Study Workman’s Compensation Laws of Maryland. In
1949, Governor
William Preston Lane, Jr. appointed her Maryland Secretary of
State. She was the first woman to hold the post, and there
would not be another woman in the position for thirty-one years.16 After two years, she
resigned in 1951 because she did not want to be at the “beck and call”
of other
people.17 However, she
remained
active in the Democratic Party, often urging women to get more involved
by reminding them of the “dignity of doorbell pushing.”18
Throughout her long career, Vivian V. Simpson received numerous awards
and honors. These include: 1950 George Washington School of Law
Distinguished alumni; member of the Judicial Appointments Committee,
1975-77;
member of the American Bar Association and the American Judicature
Society;
and the 1979 Professional Achievement Award from the George Washington
Law Association. After retiring in 1980, Ms. Simpson enjoyed time
to read and watch baseball at her farm in Poolesville, Maryland.
She passed away on August 5, 1987 after a long illness; she was 84
years
old. After her death, the Montgomery County Bar Association
honored
her as one of twenty “Lawyers of the Century,” and she was inducted
into
the Maryland
Women’s Hall of Fame in 2004. Vivian V. Simpson’s influential
career
spanned much of the twentieth century. The lawyers and citizens
of
Maryland will remain indebted to her accomplishments well into the next
century.
Endnotes:
1. Qtd in Hafner, Jennifer and Alicia
Brooks. "Etta Haynie Maddox," Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, 2004.
http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/012400/012464/html/12464bio.html.
return to text
2. Scheeler,
Mary Katherine. "Vivian V. Simpson, 1903-," In Notable
Maryland Women (Cambridge, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1977): 348-51.
return to text
3. University of Maryland Aumni Association.
"Adele H. Stamp," University of Maryland Alumni Association
Hall of Fame. May 22, 2004. http://www.alumni.umd.edu/HallFame/honorees2.html#Anchor-ADELE-13458.
return to text
4. COURT OF APPEALS (Briefs) Woods v. Simpson, October Term 1924 No. 48 [MSA T 2088, 1/65/5/15] return to text
5. Ibid. return to text
6. Rasmussen, Frederick N. "Assignment
was a Maryland First." The Baltimore Sun, 24 March 2001.
return to text
7. Callcott, George H. A History of the University of Maryland (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Historical Society, 1966): 296. return to text
8. Ibid. return to text
9. Callcott 297. return to
text
10. Rasmussen. return to
text
11. Scheeler 349. return
to text
12. Montgomery County, Maryland.
"Commission for Women - MC Women's History Archives,"
December 31, 2002. http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/Content/CFW/MCWHProject/MCWHArchives/MCWomensHistorySimpson.asp.
return to text
13. Ibid. return to text
14. Rasmussen. return to
text
15. Scheeler 350. return
to text
16. Rasmussen. return to
text
17. Montgomery County, Maryland.
"Commission for Women - MC Women's History Archives,"
December 31, 2002. http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/Content/CFW/MCWHProject/MCWHArchives/MCWomensHistorySimpson.asp.
return to text
Extended biography written by 2004 summer intern Amy Hobbs.
Return to Vivian V. Simpson's Introductory Page
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