First Women To Serve in State and Territorial Legislatures

Below are the first women to serve in each chamber of a state or territorial legislature, whether elected or appointed. Note that “Year” denotes the year a woman first served; in most cases, this means the year following a November election.

	House		Senate
State	Year	Name	Year	Name
Alabama	1923	Harriet Hooker Wilkins	1983	Ann Bedsole Frances Strong
Alaska (Territory)	1936	Nell Scott	1949	Anita Garnick
Alaska (State)	1959	Helen Fischer Blanche McSmith Doris Sweeny	1959	Irene Ryan
Arizona	1915	Rachel Emma Berry	1915	Frances Willard Munds
Arkansas	1922	Frances Matthew Jones Hunt	1964	Dorathy Allen
California	1919	Esto Broughton Grace Dorris Elizabeth Hughes Anna Saylor	1977	Rose Ann Vuich
Colorado	1895	Clara Cressingham Carrie Clyde Holly Frances Klock	1913	Helen Robinson
Connecticut	1921	Emily Sophie Brown Rev. Grace Edwards Lillian Frink Mary Hooker Helen Jewett	1925	Alice Merritt
Delaware	1925	Florence Hanby	1947	Vera Davis
Florida	1929	Edna Giles Fuller	1963	Beth Johnson
Georgia	1923	Bessie Kempton Viola Ross Napier	1925	Margaret Johnson
Hawaii (Territory)	1925	Rosalie Keliinoi	1933	Elsie Wilcox
Hawaii (State)	1959	Dorothy Devereux Eureka Forbes	1963	Patsy Mink
Idaho	1899	Clara Campbell Hattie Noble Mary Wright	1935	Margaret Bognet Pike
Illinois	1923	Lottie Holman O’Neill	1925	Florence Fifer Bohrer
Indiana	1921	Julia Reynolds Nelson	1943	Arcada Balz
Iowa	1929	Carolyn Campbell Pendray	1933	Carolyn Campbell Pendray
Kansas	1919	Minnie Tamar Johnson Grinstead	1929	Patricia Solander
Kentucky	1922	Mary Elliott Flanery	1950	Carolyn Moore
Louisiana	1940	Doris Lindsey Holland Beatrice Hawthorne Moore	1936	Doris Lindsey Holland
Maine	1923	Dora Pinkham	1927	Katharine Allen Claire Carter Dora Pinkham
Maryland	1922	Mary Risteau	1935	Mary Risteau
Massachusetts	1923	Sylvia Donaldson Susan Fitzgerald	1937	Sybil Holmes
Michigan	1925	Cora Belle Reynolds Anderson	1921	Eva McCall Hamilton
Minnesota	1923	Myrtle Cain Sue Metzger Dickey Hough Hannah Jensen Kempfer Mabeth Hurd Paige	1927	Laura Johnson Naplin
Mississippi	1924	Nellie Nugent Somerville	1924	Carrie Belle Kearney
Missouri	1923	Mellcene Smith Sarah Lucille Turner	1973	Mary Gant
Montana	1917	Margaret Smith Hathaway Emma Ingalls	1945	Ellenore Bridenstine
Nebraska	1925*	Mabel Gillespie Clara Humphrey Sarah Muir	1945	Nell Krause
Nevada	1919	Sadie Hurst	1935	Frances Friedhoff
New Hampshire	1921	Jessie Doe Dr. Mary Farnum	1931	Edgar Maude Ferguson
New Jersey	1921	Margaret Laird Jennie Van Ness	1966	Mildred Barry Hughes
New Mexico	1923	Bertha Paxton	1925	Louise Holland Coe
New York	1919	Mary Lilly Ida Sammis	1935	Rhoda Fox Graves
North Carolina	1921	Lillian Clement	1931	Gertrude Dills McKee
North Dakota	1923	Minnie Craig Nellie Doughterty	1951	Agnes Kjorlie Geelan
Ohio	1923	Nettie Clapp Lulu Gleason Adelaide ott May Van Wye	1923	Nettie Loughead Maude Waitt
Oklahoma	1921	Bessie McColgin	1921	Lamar Looney
Oregon	1915	Marian Towne	1915	Kathryn Clarke
Pennsylvania	1923	Alice Bentley Rosa DeYoung Sarah McCune Gallaher Helen Grimes Sarah Gertrude MacKinney Lillie Pitts Martha Speiser Martha Thomas	1925	Flora Vare
Rhode Island	1923	Isabella Ahearn ONeill	1929	Lulu Mowry Schlesinger
South Carolina	1945	Harriet Johnson	1929	Mary Ellis
South Dakota	1923	Gladys Pyle	1937	Jessie Sanders
Tennessee	1923	Marian Scudder Griffin	1921	Anna Lee Worley
Texas	1923	Edith Wilmans	1927	Margie Neal
Utah	1897	Sarah Elizabeth Anderson Eurithe LaBarthe	1897	Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon
Vermont	1921	Edna Beard	1923	Edna Beard
Virginia	1924	Sarah Lee Fain Helen Henderson	1980	Eva Mae Scott
Washington	1913	Frances Axtell Dr. Nena Jolidon Croake	1923	Reba Hurn
West Virginia	1923	Anna Johnston Gates	1934	Hazel Edna Hyre
Wisconsin	1925	Mildred Barber Hellen Brooks Helen Thompson	1975	Kathryn Morrison
Wyoming	1911	Mary Bellamy	1931	Dora McGrath

American Samoa (Territory)	1953	Zilpher Jennings Mabel Reid
Guam (Territory)		Unicameral	1955	Cynthia Torres
Puerto Rico (Territory)	1933	Maria Luisa Arcelay De La Rosa	1937	Maria Martinez De Perez Almiroty
U.S. Virgin Islands (Territory)		Unicameral	1953	Ann Christian Abramson

* The Nebraska Legislature had two chambers until 1936.

Source: "Women State and Territorial Legislators, 1895-1995," by Elizabeth M. Cox; McFarland & Company Inc., 1996.
Please contact us with any questions or corrections.



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