Emma Maddox Funck (November 19, 1853 – March 21, 1940) was an American suffragist and served as president of the

Maryland Woman Suffrage Association The Maryland Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was a woman's suffrage organization in Maryland, USA, founded in 1889. About The MWSA was created to fight for women's suffrage in Maryland. Carolyn Hallowell Miller started the group on January ...

(MWSA).

Biography

Funck was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

on November 19, 1853, where she attended

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

, graduating from Eastern High School. Her sister, Etta Haynie Maddox, was the first

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

woman to pass the state bar. Funck attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music and was involved in music in Baltimore. She also sang, performing with her sister, Etta. She married a member of the Men's League for Woman Suffrage, Dr. J. William Funck, in 1892. Emma Funck led the Baltimore City Society starting in 1897 and continued until 1920. She became the president of the Maryland Women Suffrage Association (MWSA) in 1904, also holding that position until 1920. During her tenure at MWSA, Funck worked on drafting resolutions for an amendment to the Maryland State Constitution allowing

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

. In 1906, Funck brought the National Women's Suffrage Convention to Baltimore. Funck was also involved in advocating for women to work in the Baltimore police force. She also raised issues about women in the workplace. In 1920, after women gained the right to vote, Funck helped to organize the Maryland Federation of Republican Women and served as the first president. Funck ran for Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in Baltimore in 1928, becoming the "first woman to run for a city-wide office in Baltimore." Funck died in her home in Baltimore on March 21, 1940, after suffering a week-long illness. She was buried in Greenmount Cemetery.

References

{{Authority control 1853 births 1940 deaths Activists from Baltimore Suffragists from Maryland Peabody Institute alumni