# Myrtle Cain > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Myrtle_Cain > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Myrtle_Cain.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtle_Cain > Source revision: 1289334246 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Myrtle Cain |image = Myrtle A. Cain 1924 Edit.jpg |caption = Cain {{circa}} 1924 |state_house = Minnesota |district = 28th |term_start = January 1, 1923 |term_end = January 4, 1925 |birth_date = {{birth date|1894|4|11}} |birth_place = [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis), [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota), U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1980|2|6|1894|4|11}} |death_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |party = [Farmer–Labor](/source/Minnesota_Farmer%E2%80%93Labor_Party) }} '''Myrtle Agnes Cain''' (April 11, 1894 – February 6, 1980) was an American politician and labor activist. She served as president of the Women's Trade Union of [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis) and was a member of the [Minnesota Farmer Labor Party](/source/Minnesota_Farmer_Labor_Party). In 1923 and 1924, Cain served in the [Minnesota House of Representatives](/source/Minnesota_House_of_Representatives). Governor [Wendell Anderson](/source/Wendell_Anderson) named February 15, 1973 "Myrtle Cain Day."{{Cite journal |date=March 13, 1992 |title=It's a Fact! (Myrtle Cain) |journal=Session Weekly, St. Paul |pages=35}} She is one of 25 women recognized on the ''[Minnesota Woman Suffrage Memorial](/source/Minnesota_Woman_Suffrage_Memorial)'' in [Saint Paul](/source/Saint_Paul%2C_Minnesota). == Early life == Born in [Minneapolis](/source/Minneapolis), [Minnesota](/source/Minnesota), to [Irish immigrant](/source/Irish_diaspora) parents, Cain went to public schools in the city and to St. Anthony's Convent. == Career == === Union work === Cain led a strike with the [Telephone Operators Union](/source/Telephone_Operators_Union) in 1918. She was also a member of the [Women's Trade Union League](/source/Women's_Trade_Union_League) of Minneapolis and the [National Woman's Party](/source/National_Woman's_Party). === Minnesota House of Representatives === [[File:Myrtle Agnes Cain 1923.jpg|thumb|left|Cain's official [State House](/source/Minnesota_House_of_Representatives) portrait, 1923]] After the [Nineteenth Amendment](/source/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) was ratified and upheld in the 1922 Supreme Court case of [''Leser v Garnett''](/source/Leser_v._Garnett), Cain and three other women won seats in the [Minnesota House of Representatives](/source/Minnesota_House_of_Representatives) in the 1922 election. During Cain's single session in office (1923-1924), she co-sponsored a bill about anti-masking, which prevented [Ku Klux Klan](/source/Ku_Klux_Klan) members from wearing masks or hoods in public (House File No. 138 that became Minnesota Laws of 1923, Chapter 160{{Cite web|url=https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?view=session&year=1923&type=0|title=1923, Regular Session - Minnesota Session Laws|website=www.revisor.mn.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-02-22}}).{{Cite web|url=https://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail?ID=11419|title=Cain, Myrtle Agnes "Agnes Myrtle" - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present|website=www.leg.state.mn.us|language=en|access-date=2018-02-22}} This ended up being the first of fifteen similar bills to be passed in the United States.{{Cite journal|date=February 28, 1997|title=Do You Know?|url=https://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail?ID=11419|journal=Session Weekly, St. Paul|pages=13}} === Post-electoral career and activism === After serving in the state house, she served on the staff of United States Senator [Eugene McCarthy](/source/Eugene_McCarthy) of Minnesota. In 1923, Cain advocated for passage of an [Equal Rights Amendment](/source/Equal_Rights_Amendment) to the [Minnesota Constitution](/source/Minnesota_Constitution), but the effort ultimately failed. In 1973, Cain spoke at the state capitol in favor of the federal [Equal Rights Amendment](/source/Equal_Rights_Amendment). == Later life and death == Cain died on February 6, 1980 in Minneapolis.[http://www.leg.state.mn.us/legdb/fulldetail?ID=11419 Minnesota Legislators Past and Present-Myrtle Cain]{{Cite news |date=1980-02-08 |title=Myrtle Cain, one of first women in Legislature, dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55703904/myrtle-cain-one-of-first-women-in/ |access-date=2020-07-19 |newspaper=[Minneapolis Tribune](/source/Minneapolis_Tribune) |page=18 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, Myrtle}} Category:1894 births Category:1980 deaths Category:Politicians from Minneapolis Category:Women state legislators in Minnesota Category:Minnesota Farmer–Laborites Category:Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Category:20th-century American women politicians Category:20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-MNRepresentative-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Myrtle Cain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtle_Cain) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtle_Cain?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.