She's 85, she’s on a roll, and now she can vote!
Don't get in Sarah Burnham’s way!

The Montpelier Evening Argus was reporting big news out of South Burlington on this day in 1920, and at the center of it all was an 85 year old woman.

Sarah A. Burnham, a resident of South Burlington, was the first woman to cast her vote at the primaries the previous Tuesday.

A woman's right to vote was brand new, and Burnham wasn't going to let her vote go to waste. The female vote would change American politics, and America.

For Burnham, voting was right in character. She was an active member of her community, tended her own garden and, despite being 85, was known to walk, ever so sprightly, to downtown Burlington and back.

Historic image courtesy the Vermont State Library. Stamp image courtesy the U.S. Postal Service.

September Archives | September 19