List of first female mayors

The first woman mayor recorded is believed to be Susanna Madora Salter of the United States who served as mayor of Argonia, Kansas in 1887. Since then women have been elected as mayors in cities across the Americas and around the world.

Contents
19th century: 1860s • 1880s • 1890s 20th century: 1900s • 1920s • 1930s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s 21st century: 2000s References

1880s

1887

First woman mayor in United States and first female mayor of Argonia, Kansas: Susanna M. Salter

1890s

1893

First woman mayor in the British Empire and first female mayor of Onehunga, New Zealand: Elizabeth Yates^[1]

1900s

1908

First woman mayor in England and first female mayor of Aldeburgh: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson^[2]

1910s

1918

First woman mayor in former Russian Empire and first female mayor of Anapa: Maria Skobtsova^[3]

1920s

1921

First woman elected mayor in Minnesota: Lillian Cox Gault ^[4]

1922

First woman elected mayor in the U.S. state of Georgia: Alice Harrell Strickland^[5]

1923

First woman mayor of Ramsgate, Kent, England: Janet Stancomb-Wills^[6]

1925

First woman elected mayor in Louisiana^[7]: Maggie Skipwith Smith

1927

First woman mayor of Seattle, Washington and first woman mayor of a major American city: Bertha Knight Landes

First woman elected mayor in Arizona: Fanne Gaar, mayor of Casa Grande, Arizona

1928

First woman elected mayor in Latin America Lages, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil: Alzira Soriano

1930s

1936

First woman mayor of Webbwood, Ontario, and the first woman mayor in Canada: Barbara Hanley

1938

First woman mayor of Newtown, Australia and first woman mayor in Australia: Lilian Fowler^[8]

1939

First woman mayor of Westfield, Massachusetts and first woman mayor in New England: Alice D. Burke

^[9]

1940s

1941

First woman mayor of Bangor, Gwynedd: Elsie Chamberlain^[10]

1946

First woman mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico and first woman mayor of a capital city in United States soil: Felisa Rincón de Gautier

1950s

1950

First woman mayor of Red Bank, New Jersey: Katharine Elkus White

First woman elected mayor in Turkey and of Mersin: Müfide İlhan

1951

First woman elected mayor of Ottawa, Ontario: Charlotte Whitton

1953

First woman elected mayor in Minnesota: Agnes Israelson

1956

First woman elected mayor in Tasmania and of Launceston: Dorothy Edwards.^[11]

1960s

1961

First woman elected mayor of Johnson City, Tennessee: May Ross McDowell^[12]

1963

First woman mayor of Richmond, Virginia: Eleanor Parker Sheppard

First woman mayor of Hampton, Virginia: Ann Hitch Kilgore

First woman mayor of Lima, Peru: Anita Fernandini de Naranjo

1967

First woman mayor of Hartford, Connecticut and first female mayor of a state capital city: Ann Uccello

First woman mayor of Sudbury, Ontario: Grace Hartman

1970s

1971

First woman mayor of Santa Cruz, California: Lorette Wood^[13]

1973

First woman elected mayor of Keansburg, New Jersey: Eileen Lloyd

1974

First African American woman mayor of Walthourville, Georgia: Carrie Kent

1975

First woman elected mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska: Helen Boosalis

First woman elected mayor of Cincinnati: Bobbie L. Sterne

First woman elected mayor of Whitehorse, Yukon: Ione Christensen^[14]

1976

First woman elected mayor of Phoenix, Arizona: Margaret Hance^[15]

1977

First woman elected mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina: Isabella Cannon^[16]

First African American woman elected mayor in Mississippi, Mayersville, Mississippi: Unita Blackwell

First woman elected mayor of Antwerp: Mathilde Schroyens

1978

First woman elected mayor of Thunder Bay, Ontario: Dusty Miller

1979

First woman elected mayor of Chicago, Illinois: Jane M. Byrne

1980s

1981

First woman elected mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii: Eileen Anderson

First woman elected mayor of Bakersfield, California: Mary K. Shell^[17]

1982

First woman elected mayor of Chiayi City and the first woman elected mayor in Taiwan: Hsu Shih-Hsien^[18]

First woman elected mayor of Houston, Texas: Kathryn J. Whitmire

1983

First woman elected mayor of Windsor, Ontario: Elizabeth Kishkon

First woman elected mayor of Auckland: Catherine Tizard^[19]

1984

First black female mayor in Nova Scotia or in any town(Annapolis Royal) in North America: Daurene Lewis^[20]

1985

First woman elected mayor of Lewisville, Texas: Ann Pomykal^[21]

1986

First woman elected mayor of Victoria, British Columbia: Gretchen Brewin

First woman elected mayor of Fortaleza: Maria Luíza Fontenele

1987

First African american woman elected mayor of Hartford, Connecticut: Carrie Saxon Perry

First woman elected mayor of Tampa, Florida: Sandra Warshaw Freedman^[22]

1988

First woman elected mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Sophie Masloff

First woman elected mayor of São Paulo, Brazil: Luiza Erundina

1989

First woman elected mayor of Edmonton, Alberta: Jan Reimer

First woman elected Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand: Vicki Buck^[23]

First woman elected mayor of El Paso, Texas: Suzie Azar

1990s

1990

First woman elected mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana: Hazel Beard

1991

First woman elected mayor of Toronto, Ontario: June Rowlands

First woman elected Mayor of Maui, Hawaii: Linda Lingle

First woman elected mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia: Moira Leiper Ducharme^[24]

1992

First woman elected mayor of Oslo, Norway: Ann-Marit Sæbønes

First woman elected mayor of Pine City, Minnesota: Jane Robbins

First woman elected mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah: Deedee Corradini

First woman elected mayor Tulsa, Oklahoma: M. Susan Savage

First woman elected mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba: Susan Thompson

First woman elected mayor of Wellington, New Zealand: Fran Wilde^[25]

1994

First woman and first African-American elected mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota: Sharon Sayles Belton

1995

First woman mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado: Mary Lou Makepeace^[26]

First woman elected mayor of Frankfurt, Germany: Petra Roth

First woman mayor of Tallinn, Estonia:Ivi Eenmaa^[27]

1998

First woman elected mayor of Herzliya: Yael German

First woman elected mayor of Lipa City, Philippines: Vilma Santos'

First woman elected mayor of Netanya: Miriam Feirberg

1999

First woman elected mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada: Jan Laverty Jones

First woman elected mayor of Kansas City, Missouri: Kay Barnes

First woman elected mayor of Gastonia, North Carolina: Jennifer Stultz

First woman elected mayor of Princeton, Indiana: Shirley Robb^[28]

2000s

2001'

First woman elected mayor of Belgrade: Radmila Hrustanović

First woman elected mayor of Dayton, Ohio: Rhine McLin

First woman and Black woman elected mayor of Atlanta, Georgia: Shirley Franklin

First woman elected mayor of Annapolis, Maryland: Ellen O. Moyer

First woman elected mayor of Dubrovnik: Dubravka Šuica

First woman elected mayor of Monrovia: Ophelia Hoff Saytumah

2002

First woman elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio: Jane L. Campbell

First woman elected mayor of Athens, Greece: Dora Bakoyannis

First woman elected mayor of Stockholm, Sweden: Annika Billström

First woman elected mayor of Innsbruck, Austria: Hilde Zach^[29]

2003

First woman mayor of Tartu, Estonia: Laine Jänes^[30]

2004

First woman mayor of Novi Sad: Maja Gojković

2005

First woman elected mayor of Salem, Massachusetts: Kimberly Driscoll^[31]

First woman mayor of Sarajevo: Semiha Borovac

First woman elected mayor of Quebec City: Andrée Boucher^[32]

First woman elected mayor of Surrey, British Columbia: Dianne Watts^[33]

First woman mayor of Ramallah and first woman mayor of a West Bank town: Janet Mikhail^[34]

First woman mayor of Kochi, India: Mercy Williams^[35]

2006

First woman elected mayor of Nicosia, Cyprus: Eleni Mavrou^[36]

First woman mayor of Copenhagen, Denmark:Ritt Bjerregaard

First woman elected mayor of Milan, Italy: Letizia Moratti

First woman elected mayor of Belize City, Belize: Zenaida Moya

First woman elected mayor of Warsaw, Poland: Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz

First woman elected mayor of Portage, Indiana: Olga Velazquez

First woman elected mayor of Grand Island, Nebraska: Margaret Hornady

First woman elected mayor of Kigali, Rwanda: Aissa Kirabo Kakira^[37]

2007

First woman elected mayor of Nashua, New Hampshire: Donnalee Lozeau^[38]

First woman elected mayor of East Haven, Connecticut: April Capone Almon

First woman elected mayor of Miami Beach, Florida: Matti Herrera Bower^[39]

First black woman elected mayor of Baltimore, Maryland: Sheila Dixon

First female Democrat elected mayor of Tell City, Indiana: Barbara Ewing^[40]

First woman elected mayor of Weymouth, Massachusetts: Susan M. Kay ^[41]

First woman elected mayor of Bedford, Indiana: Shawna M. Gurgis^[42]

2008

First woman elected mayor of Cayce, South Carolina: Elise Partin

First woman elected mayor of Conway, South Carolina: Alys Lawson^[43]

First woman elected mayor of Mullins, South Carolina: Pam Lee ^[44]

First woman elected mayor of Lexington, Virginia: Mimi Elrod^[45]

First woman mayor of Adams, New York: Patricia Sweetland

First woman mayor of Newport, Rhode Island:Jeanne-Marie Napolitano^[46]

First woman elected mayor of Northfield, Minnesota: Mary Rossing^[47]

First woman elected mayor of Cody, Wyoming: Nancy Tia Brown^[48]

First woman elected mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey: Wilda Diaz^[49]

First woman elected mayor of Suffolk, Virginia: Linda Johnson

First woman mayor of Nili and first woman mayor in Afghanistan (appointed): Azra Jafari^[50]

First woman elected mayor in Egypt: Eva Habil^[51]

2009

First woman elected mayor of Zurich, Switzerland: Corine Mauch^[52]

First woman appointed mayor of Pittston, Pennsylvania: Donna McFadden-Connors ^[53]

First woman elected mayor of Meridian, Mississippi: Cheri Barry ^[54]

First woman elected mayor of Yokohama, Japan: Fumiko Hayashi (mayor)

First women elected mayor of Syracuse, New York: Stephanie Miner

First women elected mayor Saratoga Springs, Utah and first black women mayor in Utah: Mia Love

First women elected mayor of West Jordan, Utah: Melissa Johnson

First women elected mayor of and first African-American mayor of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Linda Thompson

First woman elected mayor of Sofia, Bulgaria: Yordanka Fandakova

2010

First black woman mayor of Baltimore, Maryland who inherited the mayoral position (from Sheila Dixon): Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

First woman elected mayor of Brandon, Manitoba: Shari Decter Hirst

First woman elected mayor of Montevideo, Uruguay: Ana Olivera

First woman elected mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario: Debbie Amaroso

First woman elected mayor of Columbus, Georgia: Teresa Tomlinson^[55]

First woman elected mayor of Łódź, Poland: Hanna Zdanowska

2011

First woman elected mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee: Madeline Rogero

First woman elected mayor of Jurupa Valley, California and first mayor of Jurupa Valley, California: Laura Roughton^[56]

References