Landes, Bertha Knight, 1868-1943

Bertha Ethel Knight Landes (October 19, 1868 – November 29, 1943) was the first female mayor of a major American city, serving as mayor of Seattle, Washington from 1926 to 1928. After years of civic activism, primarily with women's organizations, she was elected to the Seattle City Council in 1922 and became council president in 1924.

Born Bertha Ethel Knight in Ware, Massachusetts, she attended Dix Street School and Classical High School in Worcester, Massachusetts before moving to Bloomington, Indiana to attend Indiana University. After three years of teaching at her alma mater, the Classical High School in Worcester, she married geologist Henry Landes on January 2, 1894; the following year, she moved with her husband to Seattle, Washington. In Seattle, Landes was active in women's organizations, including the Women's University Club, the Rainier Club, and the Women's Auxiliary of University Congregational Church. She was a member of the influential Women's Century Club and served as president of the Washington State chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Landes and Kathryn Miracle were the first women to serve on the Seattle City Council; both were elected in 1922. Landes became council president after her reelection in 1924. She became acting mayor in 1924 when Mayor Edwin J. "Doc" Brown left town in June to attend the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Angry at what she saw as police corruption and lawless activity, Landes fired Police Chief William B. Severyns. She began her own law and order campaign, closing down illegal activities throughout the city, including lotteries, punchboards and speakeasies. When Brown ran for another two-year term in 1926, Landes ran against him, on the platform that "municipal housecleaning" was needed in the Seattle government. Landes easily won the election in March, by more than 6,000 votes.

During her term, she advocated municipal ownership of utilities such as Seattle City Light and street railways. She also fought hard against bootleggers and reckless drivers, and strictly enforced regulations for dance halls and cabarets. The Civic Auditorium, later renovated as the Seattle Opera House, is one of her accomplishments. She appointed qualified professionals to head city departments, improve public transportation and parks, and put the city's finances in order. Despite her high ratings, she lost the March 13, 1928, election to Frank Edwards, a political unknown. She attributed her defeat primarily to her opponent's lavish campaign budget and to "sex prejudice."

Landes went on to take other leadership positions. She was the first woman to serve as moderator of Washington's Conference of Congregational and Christian Churches. In 1925, she became a charter member of the Seattle Soroptimists, a professional women's organization, and was elected national president in the 1930s. She wrote extensively for national magazines, encouraging other women to get involved in politics, which, she maintained, was their natural sphere. She died at her son's home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her ashes were interred at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle.