11 Facts About Martha Griffiths

Martha Wright Griffiths was an American lawyer and judge before being elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1954.

In 1982, Martha Griffiths was the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Michigan, as Matilda Dodge Wilson had been appointed the first female lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1939.

Martha Griffiths chose to continue her education by studying law and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1940.

Martha Griffiths worked as a lawyer in private practice, then in the legal department of the American Automobile Insurance Co.

Martha Griffiths was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, serving from 1949 to 1953 for the Wayne County 1st district.

In 1954, Martha Griffiths was elected as a Democrat from Michigan's 17th congressional district to the 84th Congress and was re-elected to the nine following Congresses, serving from January 3,1955 to December 31,1974 in the US House.

Martha Griffiths sat as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 1956 as well as in 1968.

Martha Griffiths was not a candidate for re-election to the 94th Congress in 1974.

Martha Griffiths was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 and to the National Women's Hall of Fame a decade later in 1993.

Martha Griffiths retired to her home in Armada, Michigan, where she lived until her death in 2003 at age 91.

Martha Griffiths was a member of the American Association of University Women.