Legacy Leaders
The Women Shaping Illinois Government and Politics
Lottie O'Neil
First Woman Elected to IL General Assembly
Ms. O'Neill was the first woman elected official to Illinois General Assembly. More than a thousand women were attended her swearing in ceremony in January 1923. She was a member of the Republican Party. She was known as the "Conscience" of the Senate and served as an elected official for 40 years. A statue of former Senator O'Neill is on the first floor of the Illinois State Capitol Bill.
State Senator
State Representative
1951 - 1963
Dawn Clark Netsch
First Woman Elected to an IL Constitutional Office
Ms. Clark Netsch became Illinois' 4th Comptroller in 1990. In 1969, she was elected to serve as a delegate to the 1969-70 Illinois Constitutional Convention, at which the fourth and current Constitution of Illinois was drafted. In 1972, she was elected to the State Senate as a Democrat, first representing the 13th district, then the 4th district.
In an upset victory she won the Democratic primary for Illinois governor in 1994, defeating Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris and Cook County Board President Richard Phelan.
State Comptroller
State Senator
1990 - 1994
Floy Clements
First Black Woman Elected to the IL House of Representatives
In 1927, Ms. Clements became active in Illinois politics when she joined the 4th Ward Democratic Organization as a precinct captain. Ms. Clements waited until 1958 to run for the House of Representatives, she was supported by 4th Ward Alderman Claude Holman. Upon winning her seat, Ms. Clements served as one of three (3) representatives from the 22nd district; her colleagues were Republican Elwood Graham and fellow Democrat Charles F. Armstrong.
State Representative
Christine Radogno
First Female Leader of a Political Party in the Illinois Legislature
Ms. Radogno started her political career as a Trustee for the Village of LaGrange. She served as a Trustee from 1989 until 1996 when she ran for Illinois State Senate and beat Republican incumbent Robert Raica. As a State Senator, Ms. Radogno was elected by her peers to serve as the Minority Caucus Leader.
State Senator
Florence Fifer Bohrer
First Woman Elected to the Illinois Senate
Ms. Fifer Bohrer announced her candidacy for State Senate in January of 1924, four (4) years after women established their right to vote nationwide by the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Supported by the women of district (Republican and Democrat) Ms. Fifer Bohrer succeeded in upsetting incumbent Senator, Frank Hanson.
Over 600 women traveled to Springfield to witness Ms. Fifer Bohrer's swearing in to the Illinois State Senate.
While in office, Ms. Fifer Bohrer fought for the rights of women, children, prisoners, the sick, and the poor. She wrote a law that gave women the right to serve on juries. She sponsored twenty child welfare bills; half became laws
State Senator