I was recently asked who the first woman to chair a committee was. As it turns out, there wasn’t a single “first”. Instead, in 1919, the first session which included women legislators, two of the original four women were appointed as committee chairs: Elizabeth Hughes was appointed chair of Assembly Education and Eleanor Miller became of the Assembly Committee on Public Morals (today called the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization).
1919 – Elizabeth Hughes (Education), Anna Saylor (Public Morals)
1921 – Elizabeth Hughes (Education), Esto Broughton (Normal Schools), Anna Saylor (Public Morals)
1923 – Grace S. Dorris (Direct Legislation), Cora Woodbridge (Public Charities and Corrections), Eleanor Miller (Public Morals)