page_title: Edna Beard
hierarchical_section_title: Edna Beard
caption_attribution_description: English: Edna L. Beard (Vermont state legislator)
context_page_description: Edna Louisa Beard was the first woman legislator in Vermont; she was the first woman elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, and the first woman elected to the Vermont Senate.
  A native of Illinois, her parents were from Orange, Vermont, and returned there in the early 1880s. Beard was raised and educated in Orange, graduated from Spaulding High School in Barre, and became a school teacher and administrator. She also served in local offices including town treasurer, and operated a dairy farm in partnership with one of her brothers.
  In 1920, the Constitution's Nineteenth Amendment made it possible for women to vote in statewide and national elections. Beard ran for the Republican nomination to represent Orange in the Vermont House of Representatives. She lost, and subsequently filed to run as a third party candidate. 40 women in Orange registered to vote between the primary and general elections, and enough supported her to tip the scales for Beard, who won the seat and became Vermont's first woman state legislator. She served one term, 1921 to 1923, and in 1922 was a successful candidate for the State Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in that body.
context_section_description: Edna Louisa Beard (July 25, 1877 – September 18, 1928) was the first woman legislator in Vermont; she was the first woman elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, and the first woman elected to the Vermont Senate.
  A native of Illinois, her parents were from Orange, Vermont, and returned there in the early 1880s.  Beard was raised and educated in Orange, graduated from Spaulding High School in Barre, and became a school teacher and administrator.  She also served in local offices including town treasurer, and operated a dairy farm in partnership with one of her brothers.
  In 1920, the Constitution's Nineteenth Amendment made it possible for women to vote in statewide and national elections.  Beard ran for the Republican nomination to represent Orange in the Vermont House of Representatives.  She lost, and subsequently filed to run as a third party candidate.  40 women in Orange registered to vote between the primary and general elections, and enough supported her to tip the scales for Beard, who won the seat and became Vermont's first woman state legislator.  She served one term, 1921 to 1923, and in 1922 was a successful candidate for the State Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in that body.  She left politics in 1924 because of ill health, but remained active on her farm and in her church.
  Beard never married or had children.  She died in Orange, and was buried at Orange Center Cemetery.
caption: From the November 9, 1922 edition of The Bethel Courier newspaper (Bethel, VT)
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