Rachel Emma Allen Berry (1859-1948)
Close on the heels of Arizona women’s step into the political arena, Berry jumped in with both feet. She became one of the first women in the U.S. to be elected to a state legislature. She joined Arizona’s House of Representatives on January 11, 1915. She worked tirelessly for bills regarding education and child welfare.
Lorna Lockwood (1903-1977)
The education of most women in the early 1900s didn’t go past high school. Lockwood not only went to the University of Arizona in Tucson but also the College of Law. According to Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame, she was the only woman in a class of 13 law students. Certainly job opportunities were slim for women, and she spent many years as a legal stenographer, but she formed the state’s first all-woman legal practice with another female attorney. She was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives, and assistant attorney general. Eventually, she became the first female chief justice in the nation.
Jane H. Rider (1889-1981)
Graduating from the University of Arizona with a degree in civil engineering, Rider became Arizona’s first female engineer. She was employed by the Arizona State Laboratories, where the Hall of Fame notes she was instrumental in making the public aware of the poor sanitation in regards to milk. The dairy industry began pasteurization because of her work. She was also involved in trying to stop sales of dangerous medicines and cosmetics (before the time of the FDA).
Placida Garcia Smith (1896-1981)
Smith helped some 1,400 immigrants learn the ways of the United States and become citizens through the Friendly House. She and her staff would often babysit children for the new citizens, perhaps giving us our first daycare centers.
Frances Lillian Willard Munds (1866-1948)
Munds was a grandmother when she became the first female senator in Arizona and the second in the United States.
Veora E. Johnson (1910-2001)
She is honored by the Hall of Fame as the first African American woman in Arizona to hold administration credentials in education. She also was also instrumental at the college level as founder of the Delta Beta Omega Chapter at Arizona State University, as well as the first African American Greek letter organization in Arizona – Alpha Sigma.
Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1956)
If you’ve ever visited the Grand Canyon, you are familiar with Colter’s work. She is the designing force behind many of the buildings you see, including Bright Angel Lodge, Phantom Ranch, Hermit’s Rest, Lookout Studio and Desert View. Teaching jobs were acceptable (and plentiful) jobs for women of Colter’s time, but she wanted to take a step further. She spent 46 years with the Fred Harvey Company as an architect and interior designer.
For More Information
These are just a few of many interesting women who helped transform Arizona and the United States in their lifetimes. Visit Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame for more information on these and other women working hard to make a difference. Find more important women in the United States here.
