State Senate Makes History

Senator Sheila Roberge isn’t really surprised that the majority of Senators are women.

TAPE: suddenly this is a big gain and everybody is paying attention. But it’s been happening. It’s been coming along.

Even going back to when she was first elected- in 1984- Roberge was one of at least four other female members.

TAPE: when I first started Vesta Roy was Senate President. And we had a few female Senators, Jean White...Eleanor Poddles, McClane, Susan was there.

At this point, people in Concord take for granted that women hold important positions.

Voters elected the first female state Senator - Maude Ferguson of Bristol- back in 1930, nine years after women were given the right to vote.

Just last session, 10 of the 24 senators were women.

But as Organization Day began in the Senate, Reverend Charles Lafond brought attention to the road women have traveled at the start of his prayer.

He pointed to the 1942 mural behind the president’s podium at the front of the Senate chamber.

TAPE: I was looking around the room at this mural on the wall, and I couldn’t help but notice there are these big, burly, strident men and this one woman, prominently bent over, hiding her hands in her apron, but it is a new day as you look around this room.

TAPE: today marks a first...

Senate President Sylvia Larsen asked her male colleagues if they would bear with her, as she acknowledged the historic moment.

...and like all barriers being broken, it’s a welcome first that hopefully assists in further reducing the barriers of discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex or national origin.

The stereotype, in some circles, is that women govern differently.

A female leader is more likely to listen, to work for consensus, and not made top-down decisions.

The next two years, obviously, will test the theory.

Senator Kathy Sgambati- one of nine women in the 14 person Democratic Caucus last session- didn’t see much of a difference then.

TAPE: we all have issues that are more important to us than other issues, and on some of those issues, we are just going to go for it...I think the gender difference is not significant once you are working at the table.

Most senators talked about the importance of recognizing the milestone, quickly.

Senators are already clearly worried about the budget, gambling proposals and education funding.

But Senator Roberge, the Dean of the Senate, wasn’t in such a rush.

TAPE: this kind of publicity that we are gaining I think is beneficial to women getting ahead in the business world and earning equal pay...I think this goes a long way to helping that happen in New Hampshire.

Roberge said of all the 13 different times she’s been sworn in, she thinks this time is the one she’s most proud of.

For NHPR News, I’m DG.