Rhoda Fox Graves

Rhoda Fox Graves (July 2, 1877 – January 25, 1950) was a suffragist, women's rights activist, and early female Republican party politician from St. Lawrence County, New York in the United States. Graves was the first woman to serve in the New York State Senate, the first woman to hold office in both the upper and lower legislative houses in New York State, and the first woman to chair a New York Senate Committee.

Rhoda Fox Graves was born on July 2, 1877, to Leander and Rhoda Martha (Burt) Austin in Fowler, New York. Her mother died from medical complications from childbirth, and her father placed her with his friends, LaFayette and Rhoda Ann (Shippee) Fox. The Foxes formally adopted her at age two.

Rhoda Fox grew up on the Fox family farm in Fowler, a small town southeast of Gouverneur, New York. She went to local public schools, the District School at Fowler, the Gouverneur High School, and Wesleyan Seminary in Gouverneur.

Prior to her marriage, Graves was a school teacher in rural public schools in the Gouverneur area.

On April 26, 1905, Fox married Perle Atwell Graves, the son of Daniel and Helen Graves. They had two sons, Mark and Paul.

Graves began her political career by working with suffrage organizations in St. Lawrence County, distinguishing herself as an activist and gaining respect in the community. She remained politically active after women gained the right to vote and established herself as a successful voice for the Republican Party in an area of New York State that was slow to accept women in politics. From 1920 until 1935, Graves was Vice President of the St. Lawrence County Republican Committee, the first woman to hold the position. According to former New York assemblyman Grant Daniels, "because of her conquest of the initial resistance to women in politics, the cause of women's rights had been greatly advanced."

Graves was a member of the New York State Assembly (St. Lawrence Co., 1st D.) in 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932. On the first day of the 1925 session of the New York State Assembly, she started her career as a legislator by introducing a bill that would allow youths who lived in rural areas and were less than 18 years of age to operate motor vehicles.

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