Tuesday is the 105th anniversary of the day the 19th Amendment was certified, giving women in the United States the right to vote. It’s also the day that the Supreme Court of Ohio chose to unveil its new Women in Law exhibit.
“We gather to celebrate the opening of the Women in Law exhibit – a tribute to extraordinary women who have shaped Ohio’s legal history and in doing so, have paved the way for future generations," said Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy in opening the exhibit.
It's in the basement of the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center in downtown Columbus. It’s about the size of a standard studio apartment. Supreme Court of Ohio Administrative Director Bob Horner said there’s room for the exhibit to grow as funds become available.
“There’s another room there that we will expand and continue to add on to this exhibit, probably in the course of the next 12 to 24 months," Horner said. "Much of this is contingent on funding; that will inform whatever the timeline is.”
The exhibit features portraits of women in law and information about their accomplishments. The portrait of Maureen O'Connor, the first woman to serve as chief justice of the state's high court, hangs on the back wall of the exhibit.
An announcement of the coming exhibit came out in April, around the same time that O'Connor's portrait was moved from the main floor to the basement. O’Connor, who had retired from the bench in 2022 because of the court's age limit, was strongly criticized by Republicans for ruling against legislative and congressional maps that GOP lawmakers had approved, with some suggesting she should be impeached. O'Connor and former justice Yvette McGee-Brown were key in the creation of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have replaced the current redistricting process with a commission of citizens. Voters rejected that change in November.
While all three women currently on the court and several former women justices were at the unveiling of the new exhibit space, O'Connor did not attend. Horner said she was invited but declined the invitation. An effort to reach O'Connor for comment was unsuccessful.
