COLUMBIA - Only 68 women have served as S.C. legislators, and that includes the 15 now in office, which makes the state the worst in the nation for female legislative participation.

The 68 who have braved the legislative process, starting in 1929, were celebrated last week at the annual S.C. Legislative Women's Caucus luncheon.

Four were from Horry and Georgetown counties, all of whom served in the House: Horry County Auditor Lois Eargle of Conway, 1976-84; Jean Meyers of Briarcliffe Acres, 1976-82; Circuit Judge Paula Thomas of Litchfield, 1992-96; and incumbent Rep. Vida Miller of Pawleys Island, elected in 1996 to succeed Thomas.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, South Carolina was last, with 8.8 percent of its 170 lawmakers being women. That was last year's figures. Since then, another woman has been elected to an unexpired term held by her husband.

As a Women's History Month celebration, the caucus took on the task of finding the photos of all the women who have served, some of them the only women among 170 legislators for years at a time.

The first to step up after women achieved the right to vote in 1919 was Mary G. Ellis, elected to the Senate in 1928 from Kingstree.

She was the lone woman during her single term, and no others were elected until Harriet F. Johnson in 1944. She was the lone female for the single term she served.

Not until 1951, with the election of Martha Fitzgerald, have women served continuously in the General Assembly, but at times there were only a few.

Eargle was elected along with Meyers and two other women, and seven were already serving at the time.

Thomas came in on a wave with seven others, and 12 were already serving. The numbers have gone down since then.

No one knows why women participate in so few numbers in legislative politics in South Carolina.

"I think all of us have studied that and looked at it " without coming to any conclusions that are different from what other states experience, Miller said.

It's hard for young women with children to serve, but that doesn't explain why participation is higher in other states, she said.

The next worst state is Alabama, with 10 percent women in its legislature, including three in the Senate. South Carolina has only one woman senator, also lowest in the nation. A few years ago, there were three.

The neighboring states do better.

North Carolina, like South Carolina, has 170 legislators and 39 are women, for 22.9 percent. Seven are in the Senate. In Georgia, 44 of the 236 legislators, or 18.6 percent, are women, and seven are in the Senate.

Nationwide, 1,663 women were serving in legislatures in 2005, according to NCSL, which is about 22.5 percent, "a ratio that has remained constant over the past five years," the organization's Web site says.

"We need more women in the legislature," Eargle said. Her thoughts on why more are not elected, or do not run, is that "women do not support women."

Women are the majority of the voters and if they supported more women, more would be elected, she said. But why they do not, she could not say.

"Until women get serious about supporting women, you're going to have less and less women in the General Assembly," she said.

Some women may think that is not a job for women, she said. Some don't want to run because they can't take the rough-and-tumble of politics.

"You've got to be tough," and some women don't want that, Eargle said.

Miller said "campaigning has gotten so difficult, I think a lot of women just don't want to deal with it."

Whatever the reason, "it is disturbing because we need more women," Miller said.

There are issues that have been fought for years that would not have been a fight had there been more women in office, she said.

One was settled by federal rules, and that was the state's refusal to require insurance to pay for birth control while it did pay for Viagra and similar drugs. Equal pay for equal work is another problem on the state level that is unsolved, she said.

"I think women ought to be outraged about that," she said.

Thomas said one reason for low female participation could be the length of the legislative session. South Carolina has one of the longest in the country at six months. North Carolina's and Georgia's are much shorter, she said.

It would be more attractive to women with families to run for a shorter legislative session, she said.

Thomas said there might be only a few women legislators in South Carolina, but that "the women who are elected up there are excellent."

Some have gone to higher office. Jean Toal, who served in the House when Eargle did, is now chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Nancy Stevenson, also in office with Eargle, became the only female lieutenant governor of South Carolina.

Elizabeth Patterson, another colleague of Eargle's, was elected to Congress. Several others, like Eargle and Thomas, have gone on to other elected or appointed offices.

Thomas said she wouldn't take anything for her experience in the House.

"I feel very special to be among those 68 and I was very honored to serve," she said.

This week:

The House undertakes its major task for the year, which is passing a state budget. Members start Monday. They must finish by midnight March 31 according to state law.

The Senate is expected to give final approval to a bill requiring schools to open no earlier than the third Monday in August, and the finance committee will review a Senate version of a tax swap.