Josephine Saxer Irwin

Josephine Saxer Irwin (March 1, 1890 – September 15, 1984) was an American suffragist and educator. She worked with numerous suffrage organizations and was a strong advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment. Irwin was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1983.

Biography

Irwin was born in Lakewood, Ohio on March 1, 1890. Her father died when she was young, and watching her mother struggle as a single parent inspired her to support the suffrage cause. Irwin graduated from the School of Education in Western Reserve University in 1910. After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which recognized the right of women to vote, she helped form the Cleveland chapter of League of Women Voters.

After the end of World War II, she served as chair for the Ohio chapter of the Women's Action Committee for Lasting Peace. She served on the Fairview Park City Council from 1958 to 1962, the first woman to do so. Irwin acknowledged that she was chosen as a token woman and that the other council members ignored her input. In February 1975, she gave a "moving speech" to the Ohio Coalition for the Implementation of the Equal Rights Amendment on the need for passage of the amendment. In 1982, at age 92, Irwin lamented that more hadn't been done to pass the ERA.

Irwin was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 in recognition of her advocacy for women's suffrage.

The Cleveland chapter of the National Organization for Women presents the Josephine Irwin Award to honor women who have contributed to the cause of women's rights.