Lee, Dorothy McCullough, 1901-

A lawyer in California and Oregon, Lee was an Oregon state representative,(1929-1931), state senator,(1932-1943), commissioner of public utilites for the city of Portland, OR, (1943-1948), and mayor of Portland, (1949-1952). In January 1953 she was made a consultant on women's affairs in Germany for the U.S. Department of State and in August a member of the U.S. Parole Board. From 1956 to 1962 she was a member of the U.S. Subversive Activities Control Board, becoming chair in 1957. She married W. Scott Lee in 1924.

Dorothy McCullough Lee was Portland, Oregon's first woman mayor.

Dorothy McCullough Lee was Portland, Oregon's first woman mayor.

Before entering politics, Dorothy McCullough Lee was a respected lawyer. She was a member of the Oregon state legislature in the 1930s. While in Salem, she had supported increased state funding for schools and for retirement pensions. In August, 1943, she was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Portland city council, where she also became the Commissioner of Public Utilities. In 1948 she was elected mayor of Portland. As mayor she was known for her anti-vice campaigns and her advocacy of civil rights.

Dorothy McCullough was born on April 1, 1901, in Oakland, California. She lived in various parts of the United States and in several foreign countries where her father, a naval officer, was stationed. She received the B.A. degree from the University of California (Berkeley) in 1921 and the J.D. degree two years later. In January 1923 DML was admitted to the California bar and practiced law in San Francisco until July 1924, when she married W. Scott Lee and moved to Portland, Oregon; here she practiced law after being admitted to the bar in October 1924.

DML was first elected to office in 1928. She served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931 and in the State Senate from 1932 to 1943. As a legislator she sponsored numerous social welfare bills. In August 1943 she resigned from the Senate to become Commissioner of Public Utilities for the City of Portland. In May 1948, while still serving as Commissioner, she was elected Mayor of Portland; she was Mayor from January 1, 1949 to December 31, 1952, but was defeated in the campaign for a second term.

In January 1953, DML went to Germany as Consultant on Women's Affairs for the Department of State. On August 7, 1953, President Eisenhower appointed her a member of the U.S. Board of Parole and on September 4, 1956, a member of the Subversive Activities Control Board; she became Chairman of this Board on January 2, 1957, and resigned in August 1962 to resume the practice of law in Portland and to serve as lecturer in political science at Portland State College and the University of Portland.