Mary Elizabeth McGowan was characterized as the “Susan B. Anthony of Summit County politics” by the local Akron newspaper. McGowan shouldn’t be compared with any figure from history. She was her own woman, who made her way in the rough-and-tumble politics of the local courthouse and in the statehouse.
Born in Ohio in 1896, she moved to Akron when she was 14. A Catholic, she was educated at St. Vincent’s schools and went on to the Actual Business College.
For 20 years, she served as a probate court reporter in Summit County. But her heart was in politics – Democratic Party politics.
McGowan won the right to vote along with all the other women in the U.S. in 1920. She was 35 at the time and already a committed Democrat. She soon became a force behind many local and state campaigns.
In 1960, at an age when most people are thinking of retiring, McGowan decided it was her turn to run and she won a seat in the Ohio House for the 42nd District. She was re-elected in 1962. When she was at the statehouse, she served on the welfare committee.
McGowan also drew power from her role as district Democratic committeewoman (from 1938 until her death in 1980). She also was elected Democratic National Committeewoman in 1952.
Although prominent Summit County Democratic politicians referred to her as the “first lady” of the party, her sometimes unpredictable behavior caused problems. In 1972 (at the age of 86), she made a run for a third term in the Ohio House. She won the primary but was handily defeated in the general election.
McGowan kept strong ties to the Irish Catholic community. She served as president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Ladies Auxiliary and remained active in St. Sebastian Catholic Church.
McGowan is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.
–Kathleen L. Endres