Margaret Brydon Laird was a leader in the women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...

 movement in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. She was one of the first two women to serve in the New Jersey Legislature

New Jersey Legislature

The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the Senate...

, elected in 1920 as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

.

Laird trained as a nurse in Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, graduating from Newark City Hospital (now The University Hospital

The University Hospital (Newark, New Jersey)

The University Hospital is the teaching hospital of the New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey.-Overview:The University Hospital is owned and operated by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey , and is the primary teaching hospital of the New Jersey Medical School, a school...

) in 1895. She married Reginald M. Laird, a druggist from Newark, and they had two children.

Laird became actively involved in women's suffrage organizations. She served as vice president of the Women's Political Union, chair of the Newark chapter of the National Woman Suffrage Association, state treasurer of the National Women's Party, and organizer of the Newark Women's Republican Club. She campaigned for the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....

, which secured women's suffrage in 1920.

In 1920 Laird was one of two women, along with Jennie C. Van Ness

Jennie C. Van Ness

Jennie Carolyn Van Ness was a leader in the women's suffrage and Prohibition movements in New Jersey. She was one of the first two women to serve in the New Jersey Legislature, elected in 1920 as a Republican....

, designated by the Essex County

Essex County, New Jersey

Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...

 Republican Party to run on the twelve-person slate for the New Jersey General Assembly

New Jersey General Assembly

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.Since the election of 1967 , the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average...

. Laird and Van Ness won and became the first two women to serve in the state legislature. Also elected on the Essex County slate was Walter G. Alexander

Walter G. Alexander

Walter Gilbert Alexander was an African American physician and Republican Party politician from New Jersey. He was president of the National Medical Association and the first African American to serve in the New Jersey Legislature.-Early life and career:Alexander was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in...

, the first African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 to serve in the legislature.

Laird served two terms in the Assembly. She was active in establishing the state's juvenile court law, and she supported legislation for equal salaries for women employed by the state government. She declined to run for a third term because of the Assembly's late hours.

Laird remained active in local politics, serving as president of the Newark Women's Republican Club from 1926 to 1932. She died in 1968 at the age of 97 in a nursing home in Neptune, New Jersey

Neptune Township, New Jersey

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 27,690 people, 10,907 households, and 6,805 families residing in the township. The population density was 3,366.8 people per square mile . There were 12,217 housing units at an average density of 1,485.4 per square mile...

.