In 1976, Nancy O'Brien became Charlottesville, Virginia's first woman mayor. Since then, Charlottesville has had three other female mayors: Elizabeth Waters (1988) and Kay Slaughter (1996) and Virginia Daugherty (1998).   In 1979, Jane Byrne was swept into office as mayor of Chicago, Illinois - the city's first woman mayor (UPI - The Boston Globe Newspaper, This Day In History, April 3, 1981).   Of towns and cities surveyed thus far, Chesapeake (1972) is the only city in Virginia to have had a woman mayor previous to Charlottesville (1976). A survey of Virginia towns and cities follows:   The first female mayor of Alexandria, Virginia was Patsy Ticer, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term in December 1990. She was elected in her own right in May 1991 and was re-elected in May 1994. In November 1995, she was elected to the Virginia State Senate, where she serves to day. To date, Patsy has been Alexandria's only female mayor.

Bedford, Virginia became a city in 1968, when its first mayor was elected. To date there have been ten different mayors. The first and only lady to hold that office was in 1980.   Bristol, Tennessee elected (voted for by the five council members, not the general electorate) its first female mayor on July 1, 1997. Her name is Margaret Firabend (pronounced "fire robin") and she was elected for a one year term. Bristol, Virginia has a female council member at this time, but has never had a female mayor.   Buena Vista, Virginia and Lexington, Virginia have had no female mayors.   Mayor Whitehurst served as Vice Mayor from 1970 to 1972 and as Mayor from 1972 to 1980 of the City of Chesapeake, Virginia. While there have been several female Council Members, Mayor Whitehurst has been the only female Mayor.   The City of Colonial Heights, Virginia has never had a female mayor.

Danville, Virginia has never elected a female mayor; however, in 1996, City Council elected Mrs. Ruby B. Archie as its Vice-Mayor.

The City of Fairfax, Virginia has only been a city since 1961 and there has been no lady mayor since that time. Mayor John Mason does not know whether there was any lady mayor of the town from 1805 to 1961.   According to the City Clerk the City of Falls Church has had two female mayors. The first was Carol W. DeLong (1980-1988) and the second was Elizabeth Blystone (1988-1990).   Harrisonburg never had a woman mayor, but Harrisonburg has had a woman vice-mayor by the name of Emily Dingledine (94-96).

Martinsville has never had an elected Mayor. Mrs. Eliza Severt was Vice-Mayor sometime in the early eighties.   The City of Norton has not had any female Mayors to date. However, it is important to note that the position of Mayor is not directly elected in the City; the City Council is elected, and the Mayor is appointed from that group. The City has had one female Council member. Linda Sturgill was elected to City Council in 1990.

No woman has ever served as Mayor of the City of Roanoke.   The first Mayor for the City of Staunton was Patricia H. Menk, who served in that capacity from 1964 to 1966. Subsequently, Mrs. Dolores Lescure served as Mayor from 1983-1984 and Dir. Nancy K. O'Hare served in that capacity from 1987-1990. Staunton currently has one woman on Council, Mrs. Rita S. Wilson.   Virginia Beach elected its first female Mayor in May of 1988 -- Meyera E. Oberndorf. She was also the first directly elected Mayor. She has served from 1988 until the present and was re-elected in 1992 and 1996. Her current term expires in July of 2000.   There has never been a female mayor serving in the City of Williamsburg. However, there was a female vice-mayor, Mary Lee Darling serving in 1982 - 92, and at present there is a female vice-mayor, Jeanne Zeidler. The mayor is not elected by the citizens, they are appointed by the city council. This is typical of the Council/Manager form of government.

Editor's Note: Since the original compiling of this artilce, Harrisonburg has had a female mayor. From 2000-2002, Carolyn W. Frank served as the mayor of Harrisonburg.