On Nov. 4, 1924, Rosalie Keli'inoi, a mother of seven from Kapa'a, Kaua'i, became the first woman elected to the Hawai'i Legislature. She wasted no time making her presence felt.
In her first months in office, Keli'inoi introduced legislation that would allow women to sell property without their husband's approval. The measure was approved by Gov. Wallace Farrington in May 1925.
Keli'inoi was born in Wailuku, Maui, and educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Honolulu.
Keli'inoi distinguished herself as a gracious but determined advocate for women's rights. Some of her proposals — including one to establish community property and another granting women the right to make contracts — would take decades to realize.
Though accepted by her peers, Keli'inoi admitted feeling "lonely" as the only woman in the Legislature. In a 1925 interview, she suggested that women were holding themselves back from pursuing public office.
"Most of them seem to think the time has not come for women to seek office, and that they are not ready for it," she remarked.
Keli'inoi died in 1952, but not before seeing her dream of women of all backgrounds participating in local government fulfilled.
