In 1908, the small village of Still Pond in Kent County, Maryland, became the setting for an important breakthrough in women's political rights when three women participated in a municipal election twelve years before the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

During the early twentieth century, Maryland women were generally excluded from voting in state and national elections. Although women's suffrage organizations had campaigned for greater political participation, the Maryland legislature repeatedly rejected proposals to extend voting rights.

Some municipalities, however, began establishing limited opportunities for women to participate in local elections.

In 1900, eligible women property owners in Annapolis were allowed to vote in a special municipal bond election. They were not permitted to vote for mayor or other municipal officers.

Still Pond took a different step in 1908 when the Maryland General Assembly approved legislation formally incorporating the town.

Chapter 160 of the Acts of 1908 established a local government of three elected commissioners. The town charter permitted eligible male and female residents who paid taxes, were at least twenty-one years old, and had lived within the town limits for six months to vote in municipal elections.

This provision created an important opportunity for women to help select their local government representatives.

Fourteen women registered to vote in the town's first municipal election. Twelve were white, and two were African American.

The inclusion of Black women on the registration rolls was particularly significant during a period when African American voters faced widespread racial discrimination and efforts to restrict their political participation.

On May 2, 1908, three women cast ballots in Still Pond's municipal election.

They were Mary Jane Clark Howard, Anne Baker Maxwell, and Lillie Deringer Kelley.

Contemporary newspaper reports described Howard as a well-known resident and identified Maxwell and Kelley as members of prominent local families.

The women participated in the election of three town commissioners and demonstrated that women could exercise civic responsibilities previously reserved for male voters.

A historical account of the election describes the polling place as a public school room, while later preservation records associate the election with the former Still Pond Town Hall.

The building associated with the election no longer survives. The former town hall was destroyed by fire in 1916.

The election attracted attention because it occurred well before nationwide constitutional protection for women's voting rights.

Still Pond's example showed that municipalities could create opportunities for limited women's suffrage even when statewide reform had stalled.

However, the right was not universal. Eligibility was restricted to qualifying resident taxpayers, excluding women who did not meet the property-tax and residency conditions.

Although two African American women registered, the available historical marker and election records do not establish that either was among the three women who cast ballots.

The town later withdrew its municipal voting provision, demonstrating the fragile nature of local political rights before nationwide reform.

In August 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the United States Constitution, prohibiting the denial of voting rights on the basis of sex. Nevertheless, many African American women continued facing racial barriers to voting.

In 2003, the Maryland Historical Trust and Maryland State Highway Administration erected a historical marker in Still Pond to commemorate the 1908 election.

Located near the intersection of Still Pond Road and Old Still Pond Road, the marker honors the three women and recognizes the importance of the town's early voting-rights experiment.

Today, the Still Pond Historic District preserves the setting of this remarkable milestone.

The 1908 municipal election remains an important chapter in the history of women's suffrage, African American political participation, and the gradual expansion of voting rights in Maryland and the United States.