When Mary West was born in 1920, women had gained the right to vote in America just a few months earlier.
Nearly 92 years later, the country has been transformed in countless ways but the Santa Rosa grandmother doesn’t think women have come nearly far enough.
Women account for a third of the Supreme Court, 24 percent of state legislators, 17 percent of Congress and 12 percent of governors, she says, rattling off statistics that give her pause.
“We are just not getting our fair share yet,” she said “We have got to get more women elected.”
West isn’t one to take such a state of affairs without pushing back. At 91, she keeps up a volunteer schedule that would test many people generations younger, with much of her energy focused on women’s rights.
She is president of the Sonoma County chapter of the National Organization for Women. She serves on the executive board of the Women’s Political Caucus of Sonoma County, which focuses on getting women elected.
And every Friday at noon, she joins the Women in Black at their silent peace protest at the corner of College and Mendocino avenues.
Last month, West was one of three people honored by the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women at their annual “Women Honoring Women” awards.
“She is a go-to to person for what you need done,” said Anne Ageson, 67, treasurer of the NOW chapter. “She is an inspiration not only to young women, but to some not-so young women.”
West’s energy may one day be explained by science. She has willed her brain to a memory study at the UC San Francisco, the kind of donation for public good that she thinks more people ought to do.
Her own theory for her longevity, though, is that movement begets movement. “If you stay active, then you’ll be active,” she said.
After retiring as a teacher in 1980, she has kept up a life filled with gardening, book clubs and traveling, including working as an English teacher in Poland and Spain.
She was in Chile last year when a 7.1 earthquake sent the country reeling, keeping her there 10 days past her planned departure.
“We got down on the floor and the hotel went from side to side for ages,” she said.
But politics is perhaps her greatest interest, even as age has slowed her some. She uses a cane and can no longer walk precincts in support of candidates, or drive.
But she’s embraced technology in a way that has expanded her limits, using the Internet and email to send out her monthly NOW newsletter that she fills with news on local events and national happenings such as attempts to pass stricter abortion laws.
As a committed liberal, she’s dismayed by what she sees as a turn to right in the national discourse and legislation. She’s not ready to stop pushing back yet.
“We haven’t come far enough,” she said.
You can reach Staff Writer Sam Scott
at 521-5431 or at sam.scott@pressdemocrat.com.
