Janet Gray Hayes
60th Mayor of San Jose, California
In office
January 9, 1975 – January 9, 1983
Preceded byNorman Mineta
Succeeded byTom McEnery
Vice Mayor of San Jose
In office
1973–1974
San Jose City Councilor[1]
In office
1971–1974
Personal details
Born(1926-07-12)July 12, 1926
Rushville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedApril 21, 2014(2014-04-21) (aged 87)
Saratoga, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationIndiana State University
Alma materCrown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

Janet Gray Hayes (July 12, 1926 – April 21, 2014) was the 60th mayor of San Jose, California, elected to two consecutive, four-year terms from 1975 to 1983. She was both the first woman to be elected mayor San Jose, and the first woman elected mayor of a major U.S. city with a population of more than 500,000 people.[2][3]

Born in Rushville, Indiana, Hayes went to University of Chicago and then received her bachelor's degree from Indiana University.[4] In 1956, Hayes and her husband moved to San Jose, California where her husband practiced medicine.

Hayes was elected to the San Jose City Council in 1971[5] In 1973, she was voted by the city council to serve as the city's vice mayor, becoming the first woman to hold that position.[6] In 1974, she was elected mayor of the city. She was reelected in 1978. She was a Democrat and campaigned as an environmentalist and wanted to fight Urban sprawl in San Jose.[4]

She died of a stroke on April 26, 2014, in Saratoga, California.[3]

References

  1. ^ Heppler, Jason (5 April 2016). "San Jose City Council Members". notebook.jasonheppler.org.
  2. ^ San Jose State University's Online Archive of California, "Guide to the Janet Gray Hayes Papers," (retrieved August 20, 2010).
  3. ^ a b Lundstrom, Mack (2014-04-21). "San Jose's first female mayor, Janet Gray Hayes, has died at 87". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  4. ^ a b "Janet Gray Hayes". Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  5. ^ West, Don (21 Oct 1974). "San Jose's fight for mayor It's the lady and the cop". Newspapers.com. The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ "R-ville Woman San Jose Vice Mayor". Newspapers.com. Rushville Republican. 20 Jul 1973. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
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