No woman has served on the Essex County Board of Supervisors since 2013. This resulted in the the group of outgoing lawmakers to set aside a chair for the next woman to join the board. Now, North Hudson Supervisor Stephanie DeZalia, has been sitting in the chair since her recent election. DeZalia, appointed to replace Ron Moore in December 2018, said the chair represented hard work, dedication and sacrifice. The chair was dedicated to suffrage activist Inez Milholland.
Milholland, a Lewis, NY resident, addressed the Essex County Board of Supervisors in September 1911 when she asked them to support the women’s suffrage bills then being considered by the state legislature. New York State women won the right to vote in 1917. Newcomb was the only town in Essex County to vote in favor in the amendment.
DeZalia can take the chair back to her town office, or keep it at its current location at the Old County Courthouse.
