Gertrude Weil
| Gertrude Weil | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Gertrude Weil September 11, 1879 Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States |
| Died | May 30, 1971 (aged 91) Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States |
| Alma mater | Smith College |
| Occupation | Activist |
Gertrude Weil (December 11, 1879 - May 30, 1971) was an American Jewish activist involved in a wide range of progressive/leftist and often controversial causes, including women's suffrage, labor reform and civil rights.
According to the Jewish Women's Archive, Weil was: "Inspired by Jewish teachings that 'justice, mercy, [and] goodness were not to be held in a vacuum, but practiced in our daily lives,' Weil stood courageously at the forefront of a wide range of progressive and often controversial causes, including women's suffrage, labor reform and civil rights. She worked tirelessly to extend political, economic and social opportunities to those long denied them."
Weil was born on December 11, 1879 in the rapidly developing town of Goldsboro, North Carolina to German-Jewish Americans Henry and Mina Weil (née Rosenthal). In 1883, only 17 years after the formation of North Carolina's first Jewish congregation, Gertrude's parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles helped to form Goldsboro's Congregation Oheb Sholom. In 1901, Weil became North Carolina's first alumna of Smith College.
In 1914, Weil helped found the Goldsboro Equal Suffrage Association and served as its first president. By 1917, she was an officer in the North Carolina Equal Suffrage League, becoming president in 1919. The same year, she declined a nomination for the presidency of the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs to concentrate on the fight for suffrage. Despite Weil's best efforts, however, the North Carolina legislature failed to lend its support to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Weil continued working to improve the political system. In 1920, she established the North Carolina League of Women Voters, dedicated to educating women about the political system and their newly won rights. She also became a leader in the Legislative Council of North Carolina, organized to advance progressive social reforms. In 1922, she made headlines when she destroyed stacks of previously marked ballots intended to be stuffed into ballot boxes to fix an election.
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