- [Lillian] I was afraid at first that the men would oppose me because I'm a woman, but I don't feel that way now.
I feel rather shy and timid before all these men.
- There always has to be the first person, right?
And so in North Carolina, Lillian Exum Clement was the first person.
- [Lillian] But I've always worked with men and I know them as they are.
I want to blaze a trail for other women.
I know that two years from now, there will be many other women in the legislature but you have to start a thing, you know.
Lillian Exum Clement, January 5th, 1921.
[calm piano music] - [Narrator] Lillian Exum Clement of Western North Carolina indeed started a remarkable thing as one of the first female lawyers and politicians of her time.
- She's the first woman elected to a state legislature in the Southern United States, so it's a big deal.
[lively music] - [Narrator] Exum, or Ex as she was known, pursued her passion for education, leading her to pass the state bar exam.
She received awards for her high score and quickly opened her law practice in Asheville, the first woman attorney in North Carolina to do so.
Dubbed Brother Exum by her male colleagues, Clement established herself as an astute and talented criminal lawyer.
By 1920, Buncombe County Democrats had recruited her to run for state legislature and she won in a landslide, 10,361 to 41.
At age 26, she traveled to Raleigh to begin her first term.
- It's amazing what she did at such a young age.
It's amazing that in 1920, she was a lawyer.
The fact that she used her voice for other women and was willing to be the first is just extraordinary because when you're the first, the culture hasn't quite accepted you.
And in addition to that, she was a young woman.
What we've seen in politics since her time is a lot of women don't get involved in politics until after they've had their children, until after they've finished a career.
To have someone so young have the desire and the courage to do it is just wonderful.
- Exum is born in a rural community outside of of Black Mountain and doesn't really move into the city until she's about 8, 9, 10 years old.
And so she would've been coming into a brand new Biltmore Village.
Her father was helping construct Biltmore Village.
She had a very quick introduction to urban life and I think would've been certainly associating with other upper middle class families that are moving to Biltmore, and then we've got evidence that she did talk to Edith Vanderbilt, that Edith Vanderbilt encouraged her to pursue her passions.
This is Exum's Bible.
It's held in our collection here.
And we can turn to the first page and we see we have this inscription.
It says "For Exum Clement, with best wishes for many happy birthdays from E.S.
Vanderbilt, March 12th, 1900."
And of course, E.S.
Vanderbilt would be Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, the wife of George Vanderbilt.
[calm piano music] - When we look at what Lillian's legislative agenda looked like, we know she introduced 17 bills.
16 of them passed.
She introduces a bill for the secret ballot.
- Which was also a very controversial bill, because then it would have made it impossible for the political powers that be to coerce or purchase votes.
If you cannot see who somebody's voting for, if you vote in privacy, then it's much harder to coerce somebody into voting the way you want them to vote.
- She introduces a bill that requires the testing and inoculation of dairy cattle for tuberculosis, and then she also was able to rally the state legislature to fund the Lindley Training School for Girls, which was here close to Asheville, and that was a home for unwed and delinquent young women.
[bright piano music] - Which was a very controversial bill, because she was accused of promoting a sinful lifestyle amongst unwed mothers.
[bright piano music] She also halved the time that it took for a woman to be able to sue for divorce after an abandonment.
Previously, it would take 10 years for a man to have abandoned his wife before she could sue for divorce, and she got that narrowed down to five years.
She did focus a lot of her energy on child and maternal issues, which was progressive for the time.
She described herself as a very conservative person.
She introduced the bill to require yellow lights on street lights, on traffic signals.
There weren't yellow lights before.
- [Lillian] January 11th, 1921.
I don't want people to expect too much of me.
There's little I can do alone.
If I blaze the trail for other women to come in until there is enough to do something, then I feel I have done my duty.
- It's worth noting that Exum did support eugenics.
She was one of the folks who introduced a bill to forcibly sterilize women who were deemed mentally incompetent, and that is a legacy that North Carolina has dealt with and grappled with.
It was happening well into the 1960s.
- You know, talking about slave owners being a product of their time.
Well, there were always abolitionists, there were always people who questioned the morality of slavery, and there were always people who questioned and advocated against the morality of the eugenics movement.
And of course, there was that racial component as well.
If you were an African American, you were much more likely to be forcibly sterilized.
And in fact, most of the people who were sterilized under the North Carolina Eugenics program were African American.
[calm piano music] - [Narrator] During her single term at the legislature in Raleigh, Clement planned her wedding to Eller Stafford a telegraph operator and journalist working for the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Her letters úto Stafford reveal a deep and loving relationship, and her longing to return home to Asheville.
- [Lillian] Just think, it will only be three weeks and three days until this is over.
We sure are working hard now.
I had such a real dream of you night before last.
Darling, I miss you so much and will be so glad when I can be with you.
- [Narrator] Clement had concerns about her health and struggled to maintain her weight and energy while in legislative session at the State Capitol.
- [Lillian] Honey, I don't want you to come down next Sunday.
Now, you may think I don't want to see you, but I've never wanted to see anyone so much in all my life.
But the truth is, I'm not very well and I'm going to do only the work I have to and rest the remainder of the time.
Some days I stay in bed 12 hours.
Don't tell Mama, she will worry.
I am taking treatment from Dr. Tucker, the osteopath, and he says it's nerves and not being able to eat enough.
You don't mind waiting one more week, do you darling?
- [Narrator] After her legislative term, Clement returned to her Asheville home, marrying Elias Eller Stafford in March of 1921.
Two years later, they would welcome daughter Nancy.
But in 1925, Clement succumbed to pneumonia during the Spanish flu epidemic.
One of Exum's last diary entries is to her daughter.
- [Lillian] Last night you slept with someone besides Daddy and >other for the first time.
Daddy was sick and Mother was sick and Aunt Nancy came in and spent the night with you.
You say, "God, God, God," meaning "God will make you well."
And he surely will.
[bright piano music] - I'm not surprised that she was from Western North Carolina, where both Democrats and Republicans are more libertarian, more individual.
What's your individual effort?
And I think she clearly showed that identity politics can be helpful in some ways, but getting everybody to support you really is showing that you're a full member of the community.
♪