1938, Fulton County school teachers who marry can keep their job

As happens occasionally, a 1938 Atlanta Constitution newspaper article caught my attention when I was researching an entirely different subject. The article was about a Fulton County teacher who wanted to keep her job after she married. I was not aware of this piece of history, but after reflecting on the subject and recalling my own job interview experience in 1979, why would I be surprised?

There does not seem to be much discussion about this issue prior to 1937, but women are challenging the rule in 1937 and 1938. According to an article in the Sunday American Newspaper (the Sunday edition of the Atlanta Georgian), Oct. 3, 1937, titled “Married teacher opinion divided,” in the Fulton County School System, women teachers who married would lose their jobs.

Atlanta, Decatur and DeKalb County school teachers were allowed to marry. However, Decatur teachers who married had to marry a Decatur citizen. If they moved away from the city, they would no longer be able to teach there.

Fulton County school superintendent Jere Wells explained the position of Fulton County, “That’s just it, married women are more likely to move away. We find, too, they frequently are absent more often.” Women teachers who married during the school year were automatically fired at the end of the school year. Teachers who married during school vacation were not allowed to return.

Superintendent Wells praised the policy for bringing new teachers and ideas to the school system each year, due to the 20 to 30 teachers who lost their jobs because they married.

That same year, Marie Long obtained a temporary injunction against the Fulton County School Board over the “marriage rule.” Judge Hugh M. Dorsey, Fulton County Superior Court, prevented Superintendent Jere Wells from removing her from the school system. Long had been a teacher for 13 years, primarily at Center Hill School. (Sunday American Newspaper, 1937 “County teacher marriage rule attacked here in injunction suit”)

Mary Jones Hughie challenged the law in 1938. She was married to Trimble Hughie, an attorney. The case was filed by Helen Douglas Mankin, Georgia State Representative from 1937 to 1946. The newspaper article refers to Mankin as the “lady from Fulton” in the Georgia legislature. She later became the first woman from Georgia to serve in the U. S. House of Representatives.

Judge John D. Humphries, Fulton County, ruled that married teachers may teach in the Fulton County school system. (Atlanta Constitution, December 24, 1938, “Cupid wins another battle as court order upholds right of teachers to wed and retain their jobs”)

The newspaper called it a Christmas present from Judge Humphries. Humphries stated that married teachers cannot be dismissed and those who marry in the future will not need to worry about losing their jobs.

When Hughie lost her job, she went to work for Decatur Schools. Fulton County was paying more at the time, $150 vs. $82.50. Fulton County had to pay the difference in the amount of income she could have potentially earned.

A marriage clause was written into the contracts of all Fulton County teachers but was not truly binding according to the court. The true reasons why a teacher could be dismissed were disability, inefficiency, insubordination and “moral turpitude.”

15 to 20 teachers were affected by the ruling and 3 similar lawsuits were pending in Fulton courts. “Mrs. Mankin added that her primary motive in filing the suits was to establish women’s rights and to protect them.”

Then she had to decide whether to go back to Fulton County. She was leaning towards Fulton due to the additional money.

Across the nation, similar cases were taking place. In Indiana, Judge Bales ruled “marriage does not constitute a lawful ground for dismissal of a woman schoolteacher.” (The Richmond Item, July 18, 1931, “Judge Bales Rules in Case of Teacher Dismissed After Marriage”)

In my research into the history of Hammond School in Sandy Springs, I have noticed there are teachers listed as Miss and others as Mrs. during the 1930s. One of the married teachers was the well-remembered Annie H. Cook. I am not sure if there were exceptions to the rule, or Hammond and other north Fulton school were not closely monitored. (Fulton County School Archives)