Text by Candis Joyce
Photos courtesy of the Swan's Island Historical Society
As in many rural towns and villages, island women’s firsts have been overlooked in the era of women’s rights and not recorded for posterity as such because these women were doing everyday things that just needed to be done. Throughout the history of Swan's Island, women regularly held positions as postmistresses, navigators, shopkeepers, and family business managers, while their husbands earned the wages that financially supported the family.
The first woman manager of the Swan's Island Electric Co-op.
Swan's Island Historical Society
Three occupational areas, in particular, have an interesting historical background. The Island's public health and postal services have been marked by the continued placement of women in leadership positions over the past century. Women in positions as town officials and committee members, however, showed significant change over the same time period, slowly including more women as we approached the close of the 20th century.