Byrne, Jane, 1933-2014

Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933 – November 14, 2014) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States. She served as the 50th Mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April 29, 1983. Byrne won the Chicago mayoral election on April 3, 1979, becoming the first female mayor of the city, the second largest city in the United States at the time. Until the election of Lori Lightfoot in 2019, she was the only female mayor of Chicago. Prior to her tenure as mayor, Byrne served as Chicago's commissioner of consumer sales from 1969 until 1977.

Born Jane Margaret Burke on May 24, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois,she was raised on the city's north side, After graduating from Saint Scholastica High School and attending St. Mary of the Woods for her first year of college, she transferred to Barat College, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology in 1955. Byrne entered politics to volunteer in John F. Kennedy's campaign for president in 1960. During that campaign she first met then Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. After meeting Daley, he appointed her to several positions, beginning in 1964 with a job in a city anti-poverty program. In June 1965, she was promoted and worked with the Chicago Committee of Urban Opportunity.

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