The Griffiths collection consists primarily of correspondence exchanged with constituents and lobbying groups on matters of pending or proposed legislation and on topics of current interest. The collection's great value is its documentation of the workings of this one congressional office and its perspective on the issues confronting the nation in the period of 1955 to 1974. With the Democrats in control of the Congress, these years witnessed legislative efforts to use the power of the Federal Government to rectify the ills of society on matters of civil rights, assistance to the poor, health care for the aged, environmental protection, and so forth. It was also a time of strife in society resulting from the war in Vietnam, tension among the races, and the Watergate crisis. The Griffiths collection documents these issues with letters from constituents and her response to the concerns of the people.
Beyond general issues, the Griffiths papers have importance for their documentation of the specific contribution of this one woman member of Congress, who served for twenty years, and who was rewarded by her colleagues with increasingly responsible committee positions. Especially significant was her appointment to the powerful Ways and Means Committee under the chairmanship of Wilbur Mills. Griffiths' files from her work on W and Means Committee detail the major pieces of tax reform legislation of the 1960s, notably Griffiths' efforts to legislate some equity into the benefits accorded to American women.
The Martha W. Griffiths papers, with few exceptions, have been maintained in the arrangement scheme used by the Griffiths office.
Martha W. Griffiths was born in Pierce City, Missouri in 1912. She received her A.B. from the University of Missouri in 1934 and her J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1940. She began practicing law in 1941 but soon turned her attention to Michigan politics (where she had moved) and began seeking public office. She was a member of the Michigan State Legislature from 1948 to 1952, a judge of Detroit's Recorder's Court, 1953 to 1954, and from 1955 to 1974, a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Following her retirement from the House, Griffiths continued in her advocacy of women's issues, particularly the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1982, she was elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Michigan where she served with Governor James Blanchard. She was re-elected in 1986, but was not renominated in 1990. As the Martha Griffiths papers consists solely of files created when serving within the Congress, this biographical note will emphasize Griffiths' service and contributions within that body.
Griffiths represented the people of the seventeenth congressional district of Michigan for ten terms, the 84th through the 93rd Congress. Her first assignments were on the Banking and Currency Committee and the Government Operations Committee. In 1961, she was appointed a member of the Joint Economic Committee of the House and the Senate, which was an advisory group to the Congress similar to the President's Council of Economic Advisors. Within this group, Griffiths was named chair of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy. In 1962, Griffiths was elected a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, then under the chairmanship of Wilbur Mills. The Ways and Means Committee was responsible for financial bills, including those relating to federal tax policy.
In Congress, Griffiths was an ardent Democrat and supporter of legislation aimed at improving education, health, conservation, and social security benefits. Griffiths also championed women's issues. She sought through legislation to remove inequities in the payment of social security benefits and other government programs. And from 1959 until her retirement from office, she sponsored a resolution in the House proposing an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.
