36. The Prank Backfires
When the polls opened on the morning of April 4th, 1887, Susana M. Salter was unaware that she was on the ballot. She first found out when a local Republican Party delegation went to her house, to ask if she was actually running for mayor. She had not been – until then. Asked if she would serve as mayor if actually elected, Salter said “yes”. The Republicans backed her, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union abandoned its candidate, and voted as a block for Salter.
She won over 60% of the vote, and America got its first female mayor. Her term was relatively uneventful, but her election became global news. Domestic and foreign press frequently reported on Argonia’s town meetings, women’s suffrage took a step forward, and instead of humiliating female voters, Argonia’s chauvinist pranksters were the ones who ended up humiliated. As to Salter, she eventually resettled in Oklahoma, where she lived to the ripe old age of 101, before passing away in 1961.