While we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, the ideals of liberty and equality didn’t end with the founding fathers. Torch bearers have continued to fight for the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, which took generations to achieve for women and minorities who were disenfranchised for much of the nation’s history.
Among them was an Asheville woman who shaped history as a political trailblazer over a century ago.
Lillian Exum Clement, born in Black Mountain, was became the first woman to serve as a state legislator anywhere in the South when she was elected in 1920. She was also the first woman to pass the bar exam, doing so entirely self taught since women were not admitted to law school…