Dixie Lee Ray

by Sadie

From eighth grade through high school, I lived about four blocks from the State Capitol in Olympia, Washington. I played on the grounds (especially at night), marched in war moratoriums, snuck in and out of the Senate and House, sang in the rotunda - all that stuff. While I was doing things I probably shouldn't have been, Dixie Lee Ray was governor. She was the first woman governor of that state, as well as first female AEC head.

From Biography.com, here's a list of her accomplishments.

Dixie Lee Ray 1914 -- 1994

Biologist, governor; born in Tacoma, Wash. Associate marine biology professor at the University of Washington (1947--72), she also directed the Pacific Science Center of research and public education in Seattle (1963--72). The first woman on the Atomic Energy Commission, as chairman (1973--75) she championed nuclear power plant construction. As an Independent governor of Washington (1977--81), she refused to closed the nuclear waste dump at Hanford, Washington. On leaving office she became an engineering consultant.

For me, she was remarkable because she didn't seem to give a rip what other people thought of her. She was weird, as I recall, but very, very human. How many Independent governors have there been in the last hundred years? I'm talkin' all fifty states here. I liked her. I continue to remember her with admiration and respect. And no, I'm not blind to her mistakes, either. Unlike some politicians I could name, at least she admitted them and accepted responsiblity for them.