Following the passage of woman suffrage in Oregon in 1912 and the passage of woman suffrage nationally in 1920, a small Oregon town of 323 residents experienced an historical city council election in 1920. The election revealed all male councilmen voted from office and the election of a city council entirely comprised of women. The election in Yoncalla, Oregon, approximately forty miles south of Eugene, epitomized the power of the woman vote, and the potential influential authority of women in positions of political power (May, 2016).

The impact of the women of the city council, nicknamed the “Petticoat Council,” pervaded town politics and set a significant political precedent in the area of women politics in Oregon (May, 2016). The elections of Mary Burt, Nettie Hannan, Jennie Lasswell, Bernice Wilson, and Edith Thompson caused a stirring in the community, with the Morning Oregonian declaring their election a “Sex uprising in Yoncalla” (May, 2016). Burt and her fellow council members were inspired to run for political office by the seeming lack of address by their male counterparts to issues of importance in the community (May, 2016).

Mary Burt, who assumed office as mayor of Yoncalla, and her fellow women of the city council actively tackled what they perceived as prescient issues of the community – poorly constructed and deteriorating sidewalks, poor lighting in the community, and temperance (May, 2016).

The conclusion of the terms of the women of the city council of Yoncalla drew opinions from the community and the press once again. With the election of a male mayor and two male councilmen, the outspoken Morning Oregonian chirped again, “Yoncalla Elects Men” (May, 2016). The reverberations of the public service of the women of the 1920 Yoncalla city council election are palpable; Yoncalla has elected three female mayors since the original remarkable election (May, 2016).