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Hands That Rocked The Cradle Also Hold The Mayor's Gavel

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By GARY MORMINO

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 8, 2009

Fifty years ago, the Tribune printed an intriguing headline: "And Just Why Shouldn't Tampa Have a Woman Mayor?"

The year 1959 was the last gasp of one of the most hopeful decades in American history. But on Feb. 15, the notion that Tampa voters might someday elect a female mayor seemed as remote as it was implausible.

In the 1950s, Tampa combined the last vestiges of Ybor City machine politics and Deep South tradition. Former druggist and county commissioner Curtis Hixon reigned as mayor until his sudden death in 1956. He was succeeded by Nick Nuccio, the beloved politician who had served nearly 20 years on the Hillsborough County Commission - and boosted his name recognition by getting his name engraved in the concrete of every public works project he approved.

In a rough and tumble election, dairyman and University of Florida football star Julian Lane defeated Nuccio in 1959.

The Tribune's prediction that Mrs. John Himes (as she was referred to in the custom of the time) "might someday become Tampa's first woman mayor" did not come true. However, Elizabeth Himes holds the distinction of being the first woman to win a countywide election. In 1964, voters put her on the Hospital and Welfare Board.

The Tribune also speculated that Molly Ferrara might one day occupy the mayor's office.

"Vivacious Mollie Ferrara ... was voted by everybody consulted as lady mayor most likely to succeed, in view of her highly successful reign as Alcadesa of Ybor City, 1954-55."

The only woman still alive from the 1959 list is Martha Ferman.

She was Martha Sales when she married James Ferman in 1937. Both came from families that were pioneering automobile dealers.

In 1959, the Tribune noted, "Mrs. Ferman herself is very active in the Community Coordinating Council and is chairman of the children's committee."

She said the presence of women on those boards was proving a good influence, because women go to more trouble to delve into details, having more time than businessmen.

Although she knew several women qualified to be mayor, and who would command respect, she would probably vote for a man over a woman. And she wouldn't run.

"Besides, I would like to be considered feminine."

The decades of the 1960s and 1970s saw more and more local women running for - and winning - office.

In 1967, Cecile Essrig became the first female Hillsborough County School Board member, a position she held until 1988. In 1971, Catherine Barja was elected to the Tampa City Council. Betty Castor became a Hillsborough County commissioner in 1972, and a Florida state senator in 1976. Voters elected Helen Gordon Davis to the Florida House of Representatives in 1974.

In her book, "Real Women of Tampa and Hillsborough County," Doris Weatherford writes that 1974 was a watershed year for local women. Jan Platt and Sandra Freedman won city council races, while Marion Rogers was elected to the school board, joining Pat Frank and Essrig.

Sandra Warshaw Freedman has lived in Tampa since 1945. When the Tribune suggested that it was time for a woman to be mayor, she was a sophomore at Plant High School.

"I wanted to be mayor of Tampa since I was in the sixth grade," she remembered. But in 1959, the 15-year-old was also determined to become a tennis star.

She managed to do both.

"I learned a lot of things by playing competitive tennis that helped me in the man's world of competitive politics: To be tenacious, never give up, to be a good sport."

Following graduation from the University of Miami, she returned to Tampa. In 1987, she became mayor of Tampa, succeeding Bob Martinez, who left office to run for governor. She served until 1995.

In February 1959, the Iorio family was residing in Waterville, Maine. John Iorio was a young English professor at Colby College. Dorothy Iorio was seven months pregnant. On April 27, daughter Pamela was born.

Maine may seem an unlikely cradle for female politicians, but the Pine Tree State has been a trendsetter. In 1959, Margaret Chase Smith was one of Maine's U.S. senators, and today, the state is represented by Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.

The Iorio family moved to Temple Terrace in 1963. Reflecting upon her youthful experiences in Tampa and Temple Terrace, Mayor Pam Iorio remembers believing that she could be anything she wished.

"I didn't think about being mayor specifically, but even as a young girl in elementary school I knew I wanted a career in public service."

At 13, she met Castor, then a county commission candidate.

"She won and it just seemed normal to me that she should win. All of my parents' friends were very enthused about her candidacy. What a difference 50 years makes!"

Weatherford thinks that to appreciate the changes Tampa and Hillsborough County experienced, one needs a sense of perspective.

"Seattle elected a woman as mayor in 1926," she notes. "Bertha Landes was elected to Seattle's City Council in 1921, and as acting mayor in 1924, fired the city's corrupt police chief. That made her popular enough to win in her first attempt in 1926."

Gary R. Mormino is co-director of the Florida Studies Program at USF St. Petersburg. He invites your letters and stories. Reach him by e-mail at gmormino@stpt.usf.edu or in care of the Florida Studies Program, Snell House, 140 Seventh Ave. S., St. Petersb

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