Outside the Pike County Courthouse, they reign Supreme
Milford. Artist Maria Torrfield conceived the idea to pay homage to the four women, out of 114 justices in total, to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court over the course of the nation’s history. Come see this popular Milford Garden Club exhibit before it goes -- and take your place as the fifth female “Supreme.”
Milford /
| 26 Aug 2020 | 06:55
The Supremes outside The Pike County Courthouse (Photo by Frances Ruth Harris)
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (1981-2005) (Photo by Frances Ruth Harris)
Justice Sonia Sotomayor (2009-present) (Photo by Frances Ruth Harris)
Justice Elena Kagan (2010-present) (Photo by Frances Ruth Harris)
Women and girls of Pike County, here's your chance to dream big: place yourself in this illustrious circle, as the fifth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court (Photo by Frances Ruth Harris)
Milford Garden Club member Ellen Orben dreams of being the fifth woman Supreme Court Justice (Photo supplied by Ellen Orben and used with permission)
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1993-present) (Photo by Frances Ruth Harris)
The Milford Garden Club creatively conjured up the Supremes -- Supreme Court Justices, that is -- in an exhibit outside the Pike County Courthouse honoring women upon the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote.
Milford artist Maria Torrfield conceived the idea to pay homage to the four women, out of 114 justices in total, to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court over the course of the nation’s history.
Torrfield installed the exhibit with the assistance of Valerie Braiton and Donna Hanigan. They left an empty slot for the next woman to join the court. They also placed a step stool behind the empty spot so that anyone may step up for a selfie.
Of the four women Supremes, Sandra Day O’Connor was the first, serving from 1981 to 2005. She was followed by three women who still serve today: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was appointed in 1991; Sonia Sotomayor, appointed in 2009; and Elena Kagan, appointed 2010.
The brochure that enhances the exhibit notes, “Also deserving of acknowledgement in the field of justice here in Pike County, Dorothy Stroh Tisdale became the first elected District Attorney in Pennsylvania, when she became Pike County District Attorney in 1931, Margaret Mary Jones became the first female Pike County Commissioner in 1987, and Kelly Gaughan, the first female judge elected to the Court of Common Pleas in 2019.”
When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked how many women should serve on the Supreme Court, she said nine. She said no one thought anything was amiss about an all-male court. So Ginsburg looks forward to a time when we will be just as accepting of a U.S. Supreme Court composed of women.
The exhibit will soon be removed. In fact, it was supposed to be gone by now but is continuing a while longer because the public’s reaction to the display was so enthusiastic.
And so, women and girls of Pike County, here’s your chance to step up on that stool, take your place in that illustrious circle of female Supremes, and dream big.