Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics Oral History Collection
Featured
Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics is a collaboration between WBGU-PBS and Dr. Melissa K. Miller, Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. Both the oral history collection and the companion WBGU-PBS documentary serve as time capsules of an important era when women began running for office in greater numbers. Each features women who broke electoral barriers in Ohio politics beginning in the 1960s. The one-hour documentary, biographical narratives, electoral histories for each trailblazer, and resources for educators are available on the project’s website.
Featured in the collection are interviews with:
- Nickie J. Antonio | First member of the LGBTQ+ community in the Ohio House and Ohio Senate; elected to leadership positions in both chambers
- Jo Ann Davidson | First woman Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives
- Nancy P. Hollister | First woman Mayor of Marietta, first woman Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and only woman to serve as Governor of Ohio
- Marcy Kaptur | Longest-serving woman in the United States Congress
- Joan W. Lawrence | First woman elected to the Big Walnut Board of Education and the first woman to represent Morrow and Delaware Counties in the Ohio House of Representatives
- Rhine L. McLin | First African American woman in the Ohio Senate and first woman Mayor of Dayton
- Betty D. Montgomery | First woman County Prosecutor in all 88 Ohio counties, first woman Attorney General of Ohio, and first woman Auditor of State
- Helen Rankin | First African American woman in the Ohio legislature
- Melody J. Stewart | First African American woman elected to the Ohio Supreme Court
- Mary Ellen Withrow | First woman on the Elgin Local School Board of Education; rose to become Treasurer of the United States
This project is made possible in part by Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics is funded in part by the Ohio History Fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connection. Your donations to the Ohio History Fund make this program possible.
Funder list
- Dr. Maribeth S. and Martin E. Rahe
- Ohio History Fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connection
- Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Office of the President, Bowling Green State University
- Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship, Bowling Green State University
- Department of Political Science, Bowling Green State University