Republished from The Bernie Buzz

Consuelo “Connie” Northrup Bailey was born in 1899 to Bent and Katherine Northrop on the family’s farm in Fairfield. From an early age, her parents encouraged she and her sisters to explore opportunities beyond the farm.

Despite the fact that women would not win the right to vote until she was 19, Bailey pursued and succeeded in a career in law and politics. After graduating from the University of Vermont in 1921, she went on to earn a law degree at Boston University in 1925. In 1926, she was only the seventh woman admitted to the Vermont Bar, allowing her to practice law. Bailey won her first election that same year, becoming the first woman to serve as Chittenden County State’s Attorney. From there, she went on to the Vermont State House, serving as a State Senator from 1931 to 1933.

Bailey also left her mark on the Washington, DC legal and political worlds. From 1931 to 1937, she worked in Congress as the personal secretary to Ernest W. Gibson. Hailing from Londonderry, Gibson represented Vermont in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. While in DC, Bailey was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Vermont woman to reach this milestone.

After some time in private practice in Vermont in the 1940s, Bailey returned to the political spotlight in the 1950s. She served as a State Representative for South Burlington, and then she visited every Vermont state legislator to win their support for her bid to become Speaker of the Vermont House. In 1953, she did just that – becoming the first woman to hold this powerful position. However, the pinnacle of Bailey’s career came in 1954, when she ran for and won the office of Lieutenant Governor – the first woman in the nation elected to this position.

While Bailey decided not to run for Governor in 1956 as some expected, she continued to be active in party politics throughout the 1970s.

If you want to learn more about Consuelo Northrup Bailey, you can read her autobiography, which she completed before her death in 1976. You can also check out some of the links below from the Vermont Historical Society, University of Vermont, and other sources.  

You can also explore Bailey’s mark on the state by visiting her birthplace in Fairfield and the Bent Northrup Memorial Library in town, to which she bequeathed funding upon her death. While in town, you can also check out President Chester Arthur’s birthplace – something Bailey was very proud to have helped preserve. Bailey’s portrait and desk are also on display at the Vermont State House. Her desk, seat number 146 in the Vermont House, happened to be the same as the first woman to ever serve in the House, Edna Beard. Bailey chose it not because of her predecessor, though, but because it had been her father’s seat.