Bertha Knight Landes
| Bertha Knight Landes | |
|---|---|
Bertha Knight Landes c. 1926
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| 38th Mayor of Seattle | |
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In office 1926–1928 |
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| Preceded by | Edwin J. Brown |
| Succeeded by | Frank E. Edwards |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 19, 1868 Ware, Massachusetts |
| Died | November 29, 1943 (aged 75) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Henry M. Landes |
| Alma mater | Indiana University |
| Profession | Mayor, City Council Member, City Council President, Teacher |
Bertha Ethel Knight Landes (October 19, 1868 – November 29, 1943) was the first female mayor of a major American city, serving as mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1926 to 1928. After years of civic activism, primarily with women's organizations, she was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1922 and became council president in 1924. She is to date Seattle's only female mayor.
Landes was born in Ware, Massachusetts to Charles Sanford Knight and Cordelia Cutter. Her father, a veteran of the Union Army, moved the family to Worcester in 1873. She attended Indiana University, where she received a degree in history and political science in 1891.
After three years of teaching at the Classical High School in Worcester, Massachusetts, she married geologist Henry Landes, whom she had met as a student at Indiana University. The couple had three children, one of whom was adopted. Landes moved to Seattle in 1895 when her husband Henry became a member of the University of Washington faculty. He would later become Dean of the College of Sciences there.
In Seattle, Landes was active in women's organizations, including the Women's University Club, the Women's Century Club, and the Women's Auxiliary of University Congregational Church. She was president of the Washington State chapter of the League of Women Voters.
In 1921, as president of the Seattle Federation of Women's Clubs, she orchestrated a weeklong Women's Educational Exhibit for Washington Manufacturers. Staffed by more than 1,000 clubwomen, it bolstered the spirits of the business community during a period of severe recession. That year, Landes was appointed by the city mayor to serve on a commission studying unemployment, the only woman on the five-member commission.
In 1922, Landes organized "The Women's Civic League" (renamed the "Women's City Club" in 1923). The purpose of the club was to educate women about local, state, national and world politics, and in cooperation with other organizations, to work towards securing the welfare of the city and improving civic conditions. Within a year it had more than 500 members.
Landes and Kathryn Miracle were the first women to serve on the Seattle City Council; both were elected in 1922. Landes became council president after her reelection in 1924. She became acting mayor in 1924 when Mayor Edwin J. "Doc" Brown left town in June to attend the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Angry at what she saw as police corruption and lawless activity, Landes fired Police Chief William B. Severyns. She began her own law and order campaign, closing down illegal activities throughout the city, including lotteries, punchboards and speakeasies. Upon his return, Brown reinstated the police chief.
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