Sea Dogs to Honor Margaret Chase Smith with Bobblehead

Portland, Maine- The Portland Sea Dogs in partnership with the Margaret Chase Smith Library will honor Margaret Chase Smith with a bobblehead giveaway on Saturday, August 26th, which is Women's Equality Day. The bobblehead is for the first 1,000 fans to enter the ballpark on August 26th when the Sea Dogs host the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at 6:00 PM. Gates open at 4:30 PM.

Margaret Chase Smith, born in Skowhegan, Maine, served 32 years in office as a U.S Representative (1940-49) and a U.S. Senator (1949-73). She was the first woman to serve in both houses of the United States Congress. Senator Smith gained national attention in 1950, when she became the first member of the Senate to speak out against McCarthyism with her "Declaration of Conscience" speech. In 1982, she opened the Margaret Chase Smith Library in her hometown of Skowhegan. Smith died at her home on May 29, 1995. For more information on the legacy of Margaret Chase Smith, visit the Margaret Chase Smith Library website at www.mcslibrary.org. 
"The Margaret Chase Smith Library is honored that the Portland Sea Dogs have commissioned a bobblehead of Senator Smith to commemorate Women's Equality Day on August 26th," stated Margaret Chase Smith Library Director David Richards.  
In 1971, the U.S. Congress designated August 26th as "Women's Equality Day." The date recognizes the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920, which granted women the constitutional right to vote. Margaret Chase Smith took this new right and turned it into a distinguished career of public service, first winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1940 and the U.S. Senate in 1948. She later became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for President of the United States at the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco.
Along the way, Senator Smith was a diehard Red Sox fan. In 1950, she wrote in her nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Washington & You," that "every time the Red Sox lose a game, we Red Sox fans die just a little." A year later she added: "When I think of baseball, I think of the Red Sox."
    
"Just as the Red Sox finally ended 86 years of "heartbreak" and "perpetual tragedy," the Margaret Chase Smith Library looks forward to the continued advances of women and the day when one of them finally breaks "the highest glass ceiling" to become the first female president of the United States," stated Richards.
Tickets for the August 26th game and all Sea Dogs home games can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs ticket office at 207-879-9500 or online at www.seadogs.com.