Bertha Ethel Knight Landes (1868-1943) was the first female mayor of a major American city, serving as mayor of Seattle from 1926 to 1928. Bertha vowed to clean up city government, running for mayor on the platform of "municipal housekeeping." She served only one term as mayor but remained a civic leader in such organizations as the Women's University Club, the Woman's Century Club, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's Auxiliary of University Congregational Church.
This image of Mayor Landes and Marie of Romania was taken as the pair entered the Seattle Yacht Club for a dinner sponsored by the Seattle Business Women's Club. Marie, born Princess Marie of Edinburgh (1875-1938), was the last Queen consort of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I. She and her children, Prince Nicholas and Princess Ileana, were in Seattle as part of an official visit to Canada and the United States.
Handwritten on verso: Entering City Federation Club House for a reception for Queen Marie
Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, November 4, 1926, page 1
ID Number: 1974.5855.34
Date: 1926
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 8 x 10 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
Credit: MOHAI, Collection on Bertha Landes, 1974.5855.34
