RIP, Rep. Margaret Tennille of North Carolina, ERA champion

Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
25 July, 2014
Former state Rep. Margaret Tennille has died

In February 1979, state Rep. Margaret Tennille, a Forsyth County Democrat, watched from the sidelines as the Senate Constitutional Amendments Committee in the N.C. General Assembly killed the Equal Rights Amendment...

...At the time, Senate leaders decided to kill the bill in committee because they feared a floor fight over the ERA was too politically risky, the Winston-Salem Journal reported. Democratic Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green and his allies in the N.C. Senate opposed the measure.

Tennille strongly supported the ERA, said her son, Ben Tennille, a retired state business-court judge.

“She fought hard for that, and she never forgave Jimmy Green for not getting it passed,” Ben Tennille said Thursday.

Margaret Tennille, 97, died of natural causes Monday at her home, her son said. She served five terms in the N.C. House from 1973 to 1984....

MORE at http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/former-state-rep-margaret-tennille-has-died/article_3f745d72-0190-540f-b936-e9ba15ebe601.html