Mary Gordon Ellis: An Influential Woman

Lee Gordon Brockington, coordinator of Public Engagement at Hobcaw Barony, once owned by Belle Baruch, speaks on another influential woman in this free talk at the Morris Center. Mary Gordon Ellis, a resident of Jasper County was the first woman elected to the South Carolina State Senate in 1928.

First a wife, mother, teacher and businesswoman, Ellis was an education reformer, first through election as Jasper County School Superintendent and then SC Senate. She fought for improvements in facilities, supplies and bus transportation for both black and white students, and her legacy remains as a woman interested in the advancement of all races and backgrounds, as well as the expansion of women's roles in public life.