Dora Patton Made History With Her Jury Duty

In 1946 North Carolina passed an amendment to the state constitution allowing women to serve on juries.  In Transylvania County the vote was 2237 against, 2207 in favor. 

Mrs. C.Y. (Dora) Patton was the first woman to serve on a Transylvania County jury on December 4, 1946.  Interestingly, the December jury list posted in the November 14, 1946 Transylvania Times did not include Mrs. Patton’s name, although her husband, C.Y. Patton was listed.  She participated for two uncontested divorce cases, both of which were granted.

It is not surprising that Mrs. Patton would be the first local woman to sit on a jury as she was a prominent and well respected woman in the community.  She was a nurse and Transylvania County’s first social worker. 

Mrs. Patton had been hired as the Superintendent of Public Welfare for the county in June 1937. Her job was to assist the needy in applying for social security benefits and distribute the funds. 

The position of Superintendent of Public Welfare arose from the passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 which provided aid for the elderly, unemployed, blind and dependent children.  The county and state each contributed a quarter of the funds and the federal government provided the remainder.  It was emphasized that, “the old age benefit is not a pension to which people are entitled merely by the fact that they have attained 65 years of age.  Old age assistance is merely a form of relief for persons over 65 who are not able to take care of themselves, who have no other means of support.”  Strict standards needed to be met to qualify. 

In September 1937 it was announced that twelve people had been approved to receive old age pensions ($5-9 per month), two for aid to the blind and ten families for aid to dependent children ($3-5 per child, per month).  Other applications were being prepared and sent to the state office for approval.  By March 1938 there were more than 75 elderly participants, six blind dependents and 81 children.  Transylvania County had exceeded its quota of $31,400 for the old age assistance.

Dora and Charles Patton lived on Morgan St., just a block and half west of
Patton's Service Station on the corner of Morgan and Broad.  Mrs. Patton's
Welfare Office was located in the courthouse originally and later on W. Jordan. St.

Mrs. Patton served as the Superintendent of Public Welfare for nearly 23 years until her retirement in February 1960 at the age of 65.  Upon her retirement an editorial in the Transylvania Times praised her as a “Good and Faithful Servant.”

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs. For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-1820.