Bertha Landes
By Halle Morgan
Bertha Ethel Knight Landes was born in 1868. She was born into a world where women couldn’t vote and where there were barely any women in politics. Landes paved the way for many, becoming the first female mayor of a major US city. All her adult life was devoted to making the city of Seattle a better place.
Landes saw the community as an extension of home and was always very active in it. She founded the Women’s City Club and played leadership roles in many organizations including the Women’s University Club, the Woman’s Century Club, the League of Women Voters, the Women’s Auxiliary of University Congregational Church, and was the president of the Washington State League of Women Voters. This leadership led her to be appointed by the mayor to serve on a commission studying unemployment.
God bless Theodore Roosevelt, governor, president, peacemaker and Nobel Laureate, warrior and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, author of 37 books, father of five, preserver of national parks, creator of the Panama Canal, intrepid explorer – and champion of Women’s Suffrage. Yes, Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican, unapologetic, all-American, best sort.
History is quickly forgotten, but worth remembering. This year marks the 100
th anniversary of the 19
th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.
Forgotten are three pivotal facts.
First, constitutional amendments do not spring from nowhere. They emerge after years of forethought, debate, leadership. Scholars are clear: “Theodore Roosevelt was the first and most important major public official to endorse women’s suffrage.”