Heidi's Timeline
What the Constitution Means to Me features an in-depth look at parts of the U.S. Constitution, but also provides us with an in-depth look at Heidi’s personal life (fictionalized or not).
In this section, major events mentioned in the play will be laid out in a chronological fashion for easier navigation. These events are primarily personal ones from Heidi’s life, but I’ve included some historical events also mentioned in the script for additional context.
1800 BC – Hammurabi. “A husband could inflict punishment on any member of his household for any reason.”
753-476 BC – Ancient Rome. “Paterfamilias – a man could kill his wife for adultery or for walking outside without her face covered.”
1494-1610 – Renaissance France. “Too many women and children were being beaten to death and it was hurting the economy, men were restricted to blows that did not leave marks.”
1700s – England. “Men could only hit his wife with a whip or a stick no thicker than his thumb.”
1864 – The Original Mercer Girls. Heidi’s great-great-grandmother was shipped to Washington with a different batch of women, but Asa Mercer had done this before with a smaller group of women.
1879 – Heidi’s great-great-grandmother Theresa came to Washington State from Gengenbach, Germany.
1880s – Headlines. “Napavine Man Shoots Wife in Back, Husband Stomps Wife’s Face With Spiked Logging Boots”, “Jealous Husband Ties Woman to Bed for Three Days”, “B. Phelps ran into her daughter’s apartment to find her son-in-law in the act of shooting her fleeing daughter. ‘Get out of here,’ he said. ‘Everything here belongs to me.’”
Unknown Date, Late 1800s – Heidi’s great-great grandmother Theresa dies at age 36 at Western State Mental Hospital.
1910 – US Supreme Court rules that a wife could not press assault charges against a husband, because it would “open the doors of the courts to accusations of all sorts of one spouse against the other.”
Unknown Date, Early 1900s – Heidi’s Great Grandma has 16 kids.
Unknown Date, 1930s – Grandma Bea marries Grandpa at 19 years old.
Unknown Date, 1930s – Grandma Bea and Grandpa have two kids, and are pregnant with a third.
Unknown Date, 1930s – Grandpa dies.
Late 1930s – Heidi’s mother is born.
Unknown Date, 1940s – Grandma Bea remarries to the abusive barber.
Unknown Date, 1940s – Grandma Bea and the abusive barber have three more kids.
Unknown Date, 1940s – Heidi’s Aunt is raped at age 16 by abusive barber.
Unknown Date, 1940s – Heidi’s Aunt is pregnant with his child.
Unknown Date, 1940s – This happens again.
Unknown Date, 1950s – Heidi’s Mom and Aunt report their stepfather to the police.
Unknown Date, 1950s – Grandma Bea takes the kids and leaves.
1961 – Estelle Griswold is arrested for providing birth control in her community.
1965 – Supreme Court Case Griswold v. Connecticut. Recordings in the script are from this case.
1971 – Heidi’s Mom is pregnant with Heidi.
1972 – Birth control is legalized for single women.
1973 – Heidi is born.
1973 – Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade decides that abortions are protected by the Constitution.
1977 – California Penal Code states that wives charging husbands with criminal assault must “suffer more injuries than commonly needed” for charges of battery.
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor becomes the first woman on the Supreme Court.
1989 – Heidi tours in Constitutional Debates for prize money.
1989 – Heidi learns the history of her Mom’s family.
1991 – Heidi uses the money from the contest to go to college.
1991 – Heidi and a college senior have sex after rehearsal.
1994 – The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passes to provide state and local government with federal support in responding to intimate partner violence.
1995 – Heidi is pregnant at 21 years old.
1995 – Heidi chooses to have an abortion.
1999 – Jessica Gonzales’ restraining order against her violent husband is not enforced by Colorado police.
2005 – Supreme Court Case Castle Rock v. Gonzales.
2011 – Inter-American Commission on Human Rights rules that the United States violated the human rights of Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales) in the Supreme Court Case Castle Rock v. Gonzales.
2015 – Supreme Court Case Obergefell v. Hodges grants same-sex couples the legal right to marry.
2016 – Donald Trump elected President of the United States.
2018 – Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court.
2019 – What the Constitution Means to Me opens on Broadway.
Wait...some of these Supreme Court Cases aren't mentioned in the play!
While there are several important Supreme Court Cases mentioned throughout What the Constitution Means to Me, there are a few that are good additional context to have, and, unfortunately, some cases that have overruled previous cases since the play premiered on Broadway. Let's take a look at each of these cases.