WARREN - A Women's Equality Day celebration will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Women's Park next to Warren's city hall on Mahoning Avenue.
The annual event recognizes the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
This year's keynote speaker will be Judge Mary Thornton House, a superior court judge for the state of California for the County of Los Angeles.
Terri Crabbs, chair of the Women's Equality Day committee, said last summer the House presided over a court case in California, presented at the request of the Upton Association, to exhume the ashes of suffragette Harriet Taylor Upton and send them to Warren, where Upton lived for 60 years in what is now known as the Upton House.
''House attended the re-interment ceremony last September and will return to the area for the Women's Equality Day celebration this year,'' Crabbs said.
House was appointed to the bench in 1996 and started the first dedicated domestic violence court in the San Gabriel Valley. She now serves as supervising judge for the Northeast and North Central Districts of the Los Angeles County Court system, the largest trial court in the world.
In March 2004, Los Angeles County honored her as its Woman of the Year for her efforts on behalf of women's issues. In October 2004, she was recognized by the Pasadena Bar Association as its Judge of the Year.
In 2008, the California Judges Association awarded her the Bernard F. Jefferson Award for Excellence in Judicial Education. In June 2012, she was elected vice president of the California Judges Association. In February 2011, the San Fernando Valley Bar Association presented her with its Excellence in Judicial Administration Award.
House graduated from UCLA with a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1975. She received her juris doctorate from the University of San Diego in 1978.
She plays the viola with the Pasadena Community Orchestra and the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic.
She is married to retired Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigator James Thornton.
In addition to House's keynote speech, the Women's Equality Day program will also include a presentation of colors by the U.S. Army Warren Recruiting Company, a special presentation of Harriet Taylor Upton and Zell Hart Deming as portrayed by E. Carol Maxwell and Kay Fisher, a proclamation by Mayor Doug Franklin, and music entertainment by Lakeview High School student Caitlin Overton.
Crabbs said attendees are asked to bring their own lawn chairs, as seating is limited.
Refreshments will be served following the program which is presented by the League of Women Voters of Trumbull County, Upton Association, Warren Civic League, GFWC Ohio Warren Junior Women's League, and GFWC Warren City Federation of Women's Clubs.