Community Connection

The scholarship was established to honor our most notable founding member, Congresswoman Marjorie Sewell Holt (September 17, 1920 – January 6, 2018).  

For 2021 the amount of the scholarship is $500, due to the COVID-19 impact on our treasury.

Mrs. Holt was born in Alabama and moved to Florida where she was raised and met her husband, Duncan, while a student at University of Florida.  She was a trailblazer even then, attending college and Law School at a time when most women did not seek higher education.   Young Marjorie had decided in seventh grade that she wanted to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives because of her admiration for Thomas Jefferson. 

She practiced law in Severna Park after she and her husband moved here for his work at Westinghouse.  They raised their family here and she entered politics becoming the Supervisor of Elections.  In 1966 she was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel county where she served for 6 years.  In 1972 she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as the first woman elected to Congress in Maryland in a general election.  She served there 14 years before returning to law practice in Baltimore. 
 

Mrs. Holt continued to be an active member of the Severna Park Republican Women's Club, attending meetings, serving on the board and mentoring women interested in serving in public office.  Her endorsement was sought and coveted by men and women running for office.  The scholarship was set up to help young women continue their education and is given to the author of the best essay written.   

Notice is given to local schools and home schoolers usually in January and the committee announces its award in April.  Notice is also given to the local papers. 

Marjorie Holt Scholarship Award

While women made up the majority of voters in the 2012 election—casting 53 percent of ballots, according to exit poll data analyzed by the Center for American Progress—they were shut off from the polls altogether just a century ago. It took 72 years of tireless work for American women to secure the right to vote. On August 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment was adopted.

Alice Paul, one of the suffragettes said when talking about voting rights, “I never doubted equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about equality.”

What difference do you see it has made in the elections in the last 100 years of women voting?

In an essay of 750 words or less, please provide your opinion on the statement above and how you believe the Republican Party is responding to the elements of the statement.