Rita D. Millar
Rita D. Millar (1884-June 17, 1953) was an American politician and the first woman in Nevada to hold public office following the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Personal life
[edit]Millar was born in Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawai'i in 1884 to Alfred and Ada McCarthy.[1][2] She had a brother, Jack McCarthy, the publisher of the Yerrington Times.[1] When Millar was an infant, her parents moved to Virginia City, Nevada and then to Hawthorne, Nevada.[1] Millar went to school in Chicago, where she met her husband, James Millar.[1] The couple moved to San Francisco and then to Hawthorne.[1] They had three children, Jules, Jack, and Mrs. Jack Burns.[1] James Millar predeceased her.[1]
She was the president of the Nevada Women's Club and was a member of the Pythian Sisters, International Association of Rebekah Assemblies, the Neighbors of Woodcraft, and the American Legion Auxiliary.[1] Millar died on June 17, 1953.[1] Her funeral was at St. Theresa's Catholic Church and she was buried in the Catholic Cemetery.[1]
Career
[edit]In 1916, Millar was elected as the recorder and ex-officio auditor of Mineral County, Nevada, becoming the first woman elected to a public position in Nevada.[1][3] She was re-elected in 1920.[3] In that election, upon the first count of ballots, Millar was declared the winner by a margin of three votes.[4] He opponent, Agnes B. Crownover, contested the election and a district judge ruled that Crownover had won, 306–304.[4] Millar appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court where the lower court's decision was overturned.[4] Millar finally took office six months after the election.[4]
Millar represented Mineral County as a Democrat in the Nevada State Assembly.[1][5] When elected in 1922, she was one of four women in the legislature.[5] She beat Genevieve H. Sterling, the Republican candidate who served as an attache of the previous session, by a single vote.[2]
For the last 20 years of her life, Millar worked in the Nevada State Treasurer's office, including five as the deputy treasurer.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Pioneer State Suffrage Leader Taken by Death". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. 18 June 1953. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mineral County Election Returns". Mason Valley News. Yerington, Nevada. 18 October 1922. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Text of the Proclamation" (PDF). NWHP News. 24 (1): 9. March 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Rita D. Millar is Mineral Co. Recorder". Yerington Times. Yerington, Nevada. 18 May 1921. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Republicans control Nevada legislature". Yerington Times. Yerington, Nevada. 22 November 1922. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.