Posted on Nov 7, 2023
America’s first female mayor came from a tiny town in Kansas. And she got the job by accident
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Kansas was years ahead of most of the country in granting women full suffrage. A prank by a few men backfired when Susanna Madora Salter was elected mayor of Argonia, Kansas, in 1887.
These days, it’s common to see women on the ballot for school boards, city council and mayoral races in Kansas. The state’s top official, Gov. Laura Kelly, is in the middle of her second term. But women running for office — heck, even women voting — is only a little more than 100 years old in most of the country.
Except in Kansas.
There, women were allowed to vote in school board elections in 1861. By 1887, women could vote in Kansas in a municipal election.
And by 1912, women had full suffrage — a full eight years before the passage of the 19th Amendment.
“Kansas was ahead of most other states but it took a long time to get to the ultimate goal. Kansans, some Kansans, were struggling for a better place from the beginning,” says historian Virgil Dean, retired editor of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains.
These days, it’s common to see women on the ballot for school boards, city council and mayoral races in Kansas. The state’s top official, Gov. Laura Kelly, is in the middle of her second term. But women running for office — heck, even women voting — is only a little more than 100 years old in most of the country.
Except in Kansas.
There, women were allowed to vote in school board elections in 1861. By 1887, women could vote in Kansas in a municipal election.
And by 1912, women had full suffrage — a full eight years before the passage of the 19th Amendment.
“Kansas was ahead of most other states but it took a long time to get to the ultimate goal. Kansans, some Kansans, were struggling for a better place from the beginning,” says historian Virgil Dean, retired editor of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains.
America’s first female mayor came from a tiny town in Kansas. And she got the job by accident
Posted from kcur.org
American History
Argonia
Gender
Voting
Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The joke was on them — Salter won the election with two-thirds of the vote.
Salter served one year in office and was paid $1, according to the National Women’s History museum. She never sought another elected office, and died in Oklahoma in 1961 at age 101.
Though she only served a short time, Salter’s election in a municipal race may have paved the way for women to win larger offices in Kansas.
Kansas took another three decades after Salter to elect its first woman statewide: Elizabeth Wooster, who in 1918 won the office of superintendent of public instruction (a position that no longer exists).
Wooster didn’t exactly open the door to other women though — and in fact, she was noticeably tough on women in education.
In 1922, she tried to fire several teachers in Cimarron after they’d been seen at a dance. That hardline stance cost her a third term.
Today, the average state legislature in the U.S. has about 33% women members, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. The Kansas Legislature in 2023 is about 30% female."
..."The joke was on them — Salter won the election with two-thirds of the vote.
Salter served one year in office and was paid $1, according to the National Women’s History museum. She never sought another elected office, and died in Oklahoma in 1961 at age 101.
Though she only served a short time, Salter’s election in a municipal race may have paved the way for women to win larger offices in Kansas.
Kansas took another three decades after Salter to elect its first woman statewide: Elizabeth Wooster, who in 1918 won the office of superintendent of public instruction (a position that no longer exists).
Wooster didn’t exactly open the door to other women though — and in fact, she was noticeably tough on women in education.
In 1922, she tried to fire several teachers in Cimarron after they’d been seen at a dance. That hardline stance cost her a third term.
Today, the average state legislature in the U.S. has about 33% women members, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. The Kansas Legislature in 2023 is about 30% female."
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