Person:Bertha Knight (49)

BIOGRAPHY: The Field Guide to North American Hauntings by W. Haden Blackmen. "Although sometimes described as stern and a bit frightening, Bertha has never shown a proclivity for violence."

The Biographical Cyclopædia of American Women: Volume II Landes, Bertha E. Knight The Chicago Historical Society page 148 LANDES, BERTHA E. KNIGHT (Mrs. Henry Landes), politician, philanthropist, was born at Ware, Massachusetts, October 19, 1868, daughter of Cordelia Cutter and Charles Sanford Knight. Her mother is a direct descendant of English pilgrims, who came to Massachusetts Colony before 1630, according to tradition descended from a son of King Canute, of Denmark. On her mother's side also, she traces back to the Cutters, who came from England to Watertown, Massachusetts, about 1626. A deed still in the possession of the family is a transfer of land in Massachusetts, in 1630. The ancestry of both father and mother is English.

Seattle/King County. HISTORYLINK.ORG http://www.historylink.org/output.cfm?file_id=301 Landes, Bertha Knight (1868-1943)

Bertha Knight Landes, elected mayor of Seattle in 1926, became the first woman to lead a major American city. She ran on a platform of "municipal housekeeping," vowing to clean up city government. She advocated municipal ownership of utilities such as City Light and street railways. Her single term ended in 1928, but she remained a civic leader and role model for women. 

Wife to a UW Geologist 

Bertha Knight Landes met her husband Henry during their student years at the University of Indiana. In 1895, they moved to Seattle where he worked as professor of geology and later Dean of the College of Sciences at the University of Washington. A devoted wife and mother of three children, she saw the community as an extension of the home and played leadership roles in several women's organizations, including the Women's University Club, the Women's Century Club, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's Auxiliary of University Congregational Church. 

Civic Action 

In 1921, as president of the Seattle Federation of Women's Clubs, she orchestrated a week-long Women's Educational Exhibit for Washington Manufacturers. Staffed by more than 1,000 club women, it bolstered the spirits of the business community during a period of severe recession. The president of the Chamber of Commerce praised her for her leadership and the mayor subsequently appointed her as the only woman on a five-member commission to study unemployment in the city. 

Like Keeping House 

  When she made her decision to run for city council in 1922, her husband said, "It's simply the natural enlargement of her sphere. Keeping house and raising a family are woman's logical tasks, and in principle, there's no difference between running one home and a hundred thousand." According to historian Doris Pieroth, "Both Landeses saw her career as duty and service rather than an opportunity for fulfillment of her own ambition, and they both justified her political activities within the context of woman's proper place" (Pieroth, 89). 

Spring Cleaning

 On March 9, 1926, running on a platform that stressed "municipal housekeeping," the 58-year-old Landes defeated Edwin J. ("Doc") Brown by a margin of 6,000 votes to become the first woman mayor of any major American city. She set to work, calling on good citizens to blow the whistle on bootleggers and offered $1 a year to those who pledged to report reckless drivers. She instructed the police force to see that regulations for dance halls and cabarets were enforced. 

Landes turned the tide of widespread corruption in city government with an honest, scandal-free administration. She appointed qualified professionals to head city departments, improve public transportation and parks, and put the city's financial house in order. One of her administration's legacies is the Civic Auditorium (renovated as the Seattle Opera House for the 1962 World's Fair), for which she broke ground. 

Voters Succumb to "Sex Prejudice" 

In her bid for re-election, Landes received endorsements from all of Seattle's major newspapers, the Central Labor Council, the Prohibition Party, and women's organizations. Despite her high ratings, she lost the March 13, 1928, election to Frank Edwards, a political unknown. She attributed her defeat primarily to her opponent's lavish campaign budget and to "sex prejudice." There was a popular sentiment that a city of stature should have a man at the helm. Ironically, in 1931 angry voters recalled Mayor Edwards. A tool of private utilities interests, he shortcircuited his own career when he fired the popular J. D. Ross from City Light. 

She Doesn't Quit 

Landes went on to take other leadership positions. She was the first woman to serve as Moderator of Washington's Conference of Congregational and Christian Churches. In 1925, she became a charter member of the Seattle Soroptimists, a professional women's organization, and was elected national president in the 1930s. She wrote extensively for national magazines, encouraging other women to get involved in politics which, she maintained, was their natural sphere. 

From 1933 to 1936, Dean and Bertha Landes led University of Washington-sponsored student study groups to the Far East. Following his death, she agreed to lead the tour alone for another summer. In failing health, she curbed her public activities, but continued to live independently at the Wilsonian Hotel in Seattle's University District until 1941, when she moved to Pacific Palisades, California. She died at her son's home in Ann Arbor on November 29, 1943, at the age of 75. 

Sources: Mildred Tanner Andrews, Woman's Place: A Guide to Seattle and King County History (Seattle: Gemil Press, 1994), 132-134; Richard C. Berner, Seattle 1921-1940: From Boom to Bust (Seattle: Charles Press, 1992); Sandra Haarsager, Bertha Knight Landes: Big-City Mayor (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994); Doris H. Pieroth, "Bertha Knight Landes: The Woman Who Was Mayor," in Women in Pacific Northwest History: an Anthology ed. by Karen J. Blair (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988), 83-106. By Mildred Andrews, September 29, 1998

MARRIAGE: The Biographical Cyclopædia of American Women: Volume II Landes, Bertha E. Knight The Chicago Historical Society page 148 In January, 1894, Bertha Knight married Henry Landes, of Carroll, Indiana, a graduate of Indiana University, with an M.A. from Harvard. The following year they came to Seattle, for Mr. Landes had been appointed to the chair of Geology in the College of Science, University of Washington, of which he is now the Dean.

CENSUS: 1870 United States Federal Census Name: Bertha Knight Estimated Birth Year: 1869 Age in 1870: 1 Birthplace: Massachusetts Home in 1870: Ware, Hampshire, Massachusetts Race: White Gender: Female Post Office: Enfield Household Members: Name Age Charles S Knight 40 Cordelia Knight 42 Eva Knight 17 Della Knight 12 Elsie Knight 9 Charles Knight 7 Jessie Knight 4 Bertha Knight 1 Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Ware, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_621; Page: 482; Image: 505.

1880 United States Federal Census Name: Bertha E. Knight Home in 1880: Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts Age: 11 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869 Birthplace: Massachusetts Relation to Head of Household: Daughter Father's Name: Chas S. Father's birthplace: Massachusetts Mother's Name: Cordelia Mother's birthplace: Massachusetts Occupation: At School Marital Status: Single Race: White Gender: Female Idiotic or insane: View image Household Members: Name Age Chas S. Knight 50 Cordelia Knight 52 Austin M. Knight 25 Chas.S. Knight 17 Stella E. Knight 28 Jessie L. Knight 13 Bertha E. Knight 11 Marilla Campbell 52 Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: T9_567; Family History Film: 1254567; Page: 62.3000; Enumeration District: 882; Image: 0421.

1900 United States Federal Census Name: Bertha Landes Home in 1900: Seattle Ward 9, King, Washington Age: 31 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869 Birthplace: Massachusetts Relationship to head-of-house: Wife Spouse's Name: Henery Race: White Occupation: Household Members: Name Age Henery Landes 32 Bertha Landes 31 Catherine Landes 4 Kennith Landes 1 Charles Landes 25 Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Seattle Ward 9, King, Washington; Roll: T623 1745; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 119.

1920 United States Federal Census Name: Bertha K Landes [Bertha K Lander] Home in 1920: Seattle, King, Washington Age: 51 years Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869 Birthplace: Massachusetts Relation to Head of House: Wife Spouse's Name: Henry Father's Birth Place: Massachusetts Mother's Birth Place: Massachusetts Marital Status: Married Race: White Sex: Female Able to read: Yes Able to Write: Yes Image: 764 Household Members: Name Age Henry Landes 52 Bertha K Landes 51 Kenneth Landes 20 Vivles Ranes 23 Alm A Knight 84 Frances R Davis 55 Rose Vorhis 48 Frances Vorhis 17 Jan M Rose 12 George Rumleyn 21 Richard K Clake 24 Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: T625_1925; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 73; Image: 764.

1930 United States Federal Census Name: Bertha K Landes Home in 1930: Seattle, King, Washington Age: 61 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869 Relation to Head of House: Wife Spouse's Name: Henry Occupation: Lecturer - Education Household Members: Name Age Henry Landes 62 Bertha K Landes 61 Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Seattle, King, Washington; Roll: 2495; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 57; Image: 92.0.

PASSPORT: Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 Name: Bertha K Landes Arrival Date: 23 Aug 1932 Age: 62 Estimated Birth Year: 1869 Birthplace: Masachusetts Gender: Female Ship Name: President Cleveland Port of Arrival: Seattle, Washington Port of Departure: Shanghai, China Line: 3 Microfilm Roll Number: M1383_179 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data:

Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 Name: Bertha K Landes Arrival Date: 28 Aug 1933 Age: 64 Estimated Birth Year: 1869 Birthplace: Masachusetts Gender: Female Ship Name: President Cleveland Port of Arrival: Seattle, Washington Port of Departure: Yokohama, Japan Line: 3 Microfilm Roll Number: M1383_188 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data:

Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 Name: Bertha K Landes Arrival Date: 19 Aug 1936 Age: 67 Estimated Birth Year: 1868 Birthplace: Masachusetts Gender: Female Ship Name: President McKinley Port of Arrival: Seattle, Washington Port of Departure: Shanghai, China Line: 11 Microfilm Roll Number: M1383_218 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data:

Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 Name: Bertha K Landes Arrival Date: 18 Aug 1937 Age: 68 Estimated Birth Year: 1868 Birthplace: Masachusetts Gender: Female Ship Name: President Jackson Port of Arrival: Seattle, Washington Port of Departure: Manila, Philippine Islands Line: 6 Microfilm Roll Number: M1383_227 Source Information: Ancestry.com. Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data:

MEDIA: D0003 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=301 D0004 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=301 D0005 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=301 D0006 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=301 D0007 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=301 D0015 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/_output.CFM?file_ID=301 D0084 - Bertha Landes Knight http://www.historylink.org/output.cfm?file_id=301

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Bertha Knight Landes.