Genevieve Beavers Earle (1885 - March 7, 1956) [1] was a New York City politician. She was the first woman elected to the city council of New York City and the first woman to be involved in a New York City Charter Revision Commission. She was also a feminist. [2]
Earle was born in Blythebourne in 1885 and attended Erasmus Hall High School. [3] Earle graduated from Adelphi University in 1907. [4] She had worked in the field of sociology while in school and showed interest in becoming involved in New York politics immediately after graduation. [3] She married William P. Earle, Jr. on October 22, 1913. [5] They had two children, Mary and William, Jr. [6] Earle's husband died in 1940 of an "abdominal ailment." [5] In 1948, she spent four months in the hospital when she broke her hip by slipping on the ice, and this may have influenced her decision to retire from council later. [2] In 1949, she retired from New York City politics and moved to Bell House in Bellport. [7]
She died in her home in a fire that may have been "caused by a dropped cigarette in her bedroom." [8]
Earle began working in politics in 1907. [3] She started doing municipal research in 1908 and was one of the first women in this field. [7] As a direct result of her early studies, salaries for police patrolmen were increased in New York. [7] She chaired a woman's committee for the election of John Purroy Mitchel in 1917. [3] Also in 1917, she was appointed to the board of Child Welfare. [3] Earle was president of the Brooklyn chapter of the League of Women Voters. [9]
Earle served as the first woman on a New York City Charter Revision Commission during 1935 to 1936. [10] [11] The charter created by the commission was adopted in 1936 and initiated the use of proportional representation in the city’s elections. [12] She was awarded a gold medal of service to Brooklyn, partly because of her work on the commission, which was presented by Mayor La Guardia in 1936. [13]
Earle was the first woman elected to the New York City Council in 1937, [14] and she was the only woman to serve as a council member in the city for some time. [15] She was one of a pool of 99 candidates for council, out of which 9 were voted in. [16] Earle ran as a member of the City Fusion Party, [17] and also had the support of many African American voters in Brooklyn. [18] Earle also appointed a black woman, Emily V. Gibbes, to a job in the city as a secretary. [18] She served in council from 1938 to 1949. [10] Between 1940 and 1949, she was the council's Republican Minority Leader. [4] While on the council, she promoted the creation of recreational centers and playgrounds in the city. [19] In 1953, she was appointed to a five-year term on Suffolk County's Planning Board. [2]
Earle was also involved with libraries. In 1934, Mayor La Guardia appointed her to the board of trustees for the Brooklyn Public Library. [3] Earle worked closely with Municipal Reference Librarian Rebecca B. Rankin, who helped her with research related to council work. [20] Earle was a vice president of the board of the Bellport Memorial Library. [7] She started an archives collection at Bellport Memorial Library. [21]
Adelphi University honored Earle with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws in 1942. [4] In 1962, Adelphi named a girls' dormitory "Earle Hall," in her honor. [7] Another honor was her election as an "honorary life member" of the Women's City Club of New York in 1951. [7]