Despite its liberal reputation, Massachusetts continues to lag in terms of providing women the opportunity to serve in its top offices. There's never been a woman elected governor in the Bay State, nor a woman elected to the U.S. Senate, though Democrat Martha Coakley came close last January.
Still, no one would regard the Statehouse, where Plymouth's Therese Murray presides over the Senate, as an old boys' club any longer. And many of the gains women have made there and more specifically in local politics, owe a lot to the fine example provided by Beverly's Frances Alexander, who died Sunday at the age of 90.
Alexander was always of the opinion that if you want to make a difference, you have to get involved. And from her service on the PTO at her children's elementary school sprang a political career that stretched over several decades.
She was the first woman to serve as president of the Beverly Board of Aldermen (now the City Council) — a job that goes to the at-large candidate garnering the most votes citywide. She was also the first woman to represent Beverly in the Legislature.
A canny businesswoman, she built her pre-school on Lothrop Street into one of the most prestigious in the area. And she made her presence known both at City Hall and on Beacon Hill where she served for eight years until falling victim to a Republican boomlet in 1990. (Her opponent, Jim Henry, served a single term and disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived on the scene.)
The high, curving span that carries traffic between Beverly and Salem stands as one of her outstanding legacies. Fiercely protective of her city's interests when it came to the design of the structure, she also helped build the support necessary to get the project done.
Alexander was also instrumental in passing statewide rules governing the installation of automatic sprinklers following the tragic Elliott Chambers fire that killed 15 people in Beverly in 1984.
"She was a woman way ahead of her time," the city's current state representative, Mary Grant, told reporter Paul Leighton this week. "She did what had to be done and didn't pay attention to whether a woman was supposed to do it or not."
The fact is that when Alexander first ran for office in the early 1970s, a seat on the school board was regarded in many quarters as the highest office to which a woman might logically aspire. But it represented only the first rung on the ladder for the energetic woman with the booming voice and personality to match.
She set a standard for public service that others — male or female — would do well to emulate.
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