Published on Monday, November 03, 2008
By Daily Bulletin Staff Writer
This election year has seen women taking a greater role in seeking high office than at any other time in our history.
But for Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, trying to break the glass ceiling into that most-exclusive male club has not been easy.
It was also difficult for perhaps the first woman to reach elective office in the Inland Valley, especially since she couldn't even vote for herself.
Frances Kendall won election to the Ontario school board in June 1892, well before California women got the right to vote in 1911. She won by a 134-133 margin, because her opponent, George R. Holbrook, voted for her.
It would be almost 58 years before the first woman was elected to the City Council in Ontario.
And, as you might expect, it wasn't easy.
She was Celesta Aurel Scott Walters, who was elected to the council in spring 1950 and served one term.
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