Zilpher Margaret Jennings Reed (13 June 1928 –13 August 1961) was an American Samoan politician. In 1953 she was one of the first two women elected to the Fono,when she won a seat in the House of Representatives. [1]
Jennings was born in Swains Island in 1928,the daughter of Margaret (née Pedro) and Eli Jennings,the owner of the island. [2] [3] She began working in the administration department of the American Samoan government, [4] and married Fritz John Reed,with whom she had two sons in 1956 and 1958.
In the 1953 legislative elections,she was elected to the House of Representatives from Swains Island,one of two women elected to the House alongside Mabel Reid. [5]
She died in 1961. [6]
Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington,more commonly known as Elizabeth P. Farrington,was publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and an American politician who served as delegate to the United States Congress for the Territory of Hawai'i. She was the wife to Joseph Rider Farrington,whom she had succeeded in Washington,D.C. Her father-in-law was the Territorial Governor of Hawai'i Wallace Rider Farrington.
Gerald Michael Gabbard is an American politician,serving as the Hawaii State Senator for District 21 from the Democratic party,since 2006. Gabbard rose to prominence for efforts to prevent same-sex marriage in Hawai'i by passing a 1998 amendment to the Constitution of Hawaii to give the state legislature "the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples" under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Gabbard,who was born in American Samoa,is the first person of Samoan descent to serve in the Hawaii Senate.
Swains Island is a remote coral atoll in the Tokelau volcanic island group in the South Pacific Ocean. Administered as part of American Samoa since 1925,the island is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute between Tokelau and the United States.
The American Samoa Fono is the territorial legislature of American Samoa. Like most states and territorial legislatures of the United States,it is a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives and a Senate. The legislature is located in Fagatogo along Pago Pago harbor.
Nyla A. Murphy was an American lawyer,real estate broker,flight attendant,and politician. A Republican,she served in the Wyoming House of Representatives for 12 years from 1979 to 1991. She lived in Casper,Wyoming and represented Natrona County.
Liane M. Sorenson is an American politician who served in the Delaware House of Representatives from the 12th district from 1992 to 1994 and in the Delaware Senate from the 6th district from 1994 to 2012. She was a Republican,lived in Hockessin,and represented New Castle County.
Patricia A. Noland is an American politician who served in the Arizona House of Representatives from the 13th district from 1989 to 1993 and in the Arizona Senate from the 13th district from 1993 to 1997. A Republican,she lived in Tucson and represented Pima County.
Mabel Coleman Reid,also known by the Samoan name Sinaitaaga,was an American Samoan politician. In 1953 she was one of the first two women elected to the Fono,when she won a seat in the House of Representatives.
Legislative elections were held in American Samoa between 19 and 24 January 1953,the first under universal suffrage.
Flora Kekulalani Kaai Hayes was a Hawaiian-American politician and actor. She served in the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives for seven terms between 1938 and 1959,representing Oahu as a member of the Hawaii Republican Party. From the 1920s through the early 1930s,Hayes became involved in various Hawaiian organizations. In 1936,she was elected president of the Territory of Hawaii's parent–teacher association (PTA),serving two terms. At the request of John Ford,she stopped in Hollywood while traveling back from a PTA conference in Virginia to play a minor role in the 1937 film The Hurricane.
Mae Carroll Fry was an American politician and schoolteacher. She was married to John Henry Fry in 1908. She was a Republican in Denver and served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1927 to 1928. She was nominated to run again for the next session but failed to get elected with 3.4% of the vote.
Montana F. Smith was a state legislator in Colorado. A Democrat,she served in the Colorado House of Representatives in 1947 and 1949. She was from Lake City,Colorado and represented Denver County.
Marguerite H. Smith was a state legislator in Maine. She lived in Falmouth,Maine and represented Cumberland County,Maine in 1957,1959,1961,and 1963. She was a Republican.
Patricia Jo Nagel was an editor,lawyer,consultant and state legislator in Wyoming. A Republican,she lived in Casper,Wyoming and represented Natrona County in the Wyoming House of Representatives in 1993 and 1995 continuing in office until 2002. She had a husband Bob and teo daughters.
Margaret H. Barden was an American state legislator. A Democrat,she lived in Berlin,New Hampshire,and represented the 1st ward,Coos County,from 1925 to 1939 in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. She was elected to at least seven terms.
Edith D. Banfield was an American state legislator in New Hampshire. She lived in Moultonborough and represented Carroll County in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1937 to 1949. She was a Republican.
Suʻa Alexander Eli Jennings is an American Samoan politician who is the current delegate to the American Samoa House of Representatives from Swains Island.
The election of women to the Hawaii Territorial Legislature was a complex process. Women did not have the right to vote in the Republic of Hawaii after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Upon the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,women gained suffrage almost immediately began seeking election to the Territorial Legislature,but the Hawaiian Organic Act dictated that only "a male citizen of the United States" could hold territorial office.
Sarah Todd Cunningham was an American politician who served in the Hawaii Territorial Senate.
Isabelle Namauʻu Thompson was a Hawaiian-American teacher and politician. Born in Lahaina,Hawaii,she represented Maui County in the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives beginning in 1945,but was ill for much of her term. She died of an intracerebral hemorrhage in 1946 before the term concluded.