Albuquerque honors first female governor in state and nation

Four years after women won the right to vote and hold office, Soledad Chávez de Chacón made headlines across the country when she served as acting governor of New Mexico.

For two weeks in 1924, while then-Gov. James Hinkle was away at the Democratic Convention in New York City, Chacón held the highest office in state government — the first woman in the nation to ever do so.

During Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15-Oct.15, the city honored Chacón by naming her a “Breakthrough New Mexican” and dedicating a plaque to her at the Albuquerque International Sunport.

“She really didn’t just break glass ceilings — she essentially broke them a century ago,” said Mayor Tim Keller at the ceremony late last month.

Today, the state has a female-majority Legislature, and a woman elected to the state’s highest office following in the tradition set by Chacón. Between former Gov. Susana Martinez and current Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the state has been led by women for nearly 15 years.

“I’m sure this is what she wanted and I feel she paved the way,” said Chacón’s great-granddaughter, Jolene Chacón, who accepted the award on her behalf.

In a historical photo, Soledad Chacón sat poised in a leather desk chair holding a gavel. Jolene Chacón still has her great-grandmother’s gavel and her official copper plated stamp, among other mementos that have been passed down over the years.

But her possessions are not all the family holds onto.

“She was a very strong woman, a strong-willed woman, and I think that’s where a lot of us got that strength and determination,” said Jolene Chacón.

Her family and friends called Soledad Chacón “Lala” and beyond being politically minded, she was known to be sweet and smart with money. She could play mandolin and piano, was excellent at the card game bridge and encouraged her children to pursue a college education, according to recollections from her daughter, Adelina Chacón Ward.

Before her political career, Soledad Chacón fought for women’s suffrage, attending marches and rallies, Jolene Chacón said.

Once the 19th Amendment made it legal for women to vote and be elected to higher office, Chacón ran for secretary of state and won. She was the first woman in the state to do so.

“Our family has always been so proud of my great-grandmother,” Jolene Chacón said at the ceremony.

Not everyone at the time was so supportive.

Soledad Chacón faced stigma from some members of her community, who traditionally saw women as wives and homemakers, Jolene Chacón said.

“The men were very standoffish with her,” Jolene Chacón said. “They didn’t like the idea that she was running and trying to do what they said was meant to be a man’s job. And she didn’t care — she was doing it — and she won.”

During her short governorship, Soledad Chacón signed off on federal funds for the New Mexico National Guard, pardoned one inmate and requested the extradition of a man from Kansas who was accused of larceny, according to archived newspapers.

A year later, two other women joined her rank. Nellie Tayloe Ross and Miriam Amanda Ferguson became the elected governors of Wyoming and Texas, respectively.

After her term as secretary of state ended, Soledad Chacón ran for the New Mexico House of Representatives and broke barriers yet again, becoming the first Hispanic woman elected to the Bernalillo seat.

While serving the second half of her two-year term, Soledad Chacón died Aug. 4, 1936, of internal bleeding caused by a ruptured ulcer. She was one week shy of her 46th birthday.

“She had a lot on her shoulders, and she was taking care of all the family, plus doing this for her people of New Mexico,” Jolene Chacón said. “So I wouldn’t doubt that it had contributed.”

Chacon had two children, Adelina Chacon Ward and Santiago Chacón, and is survived today by generations of grandchildren.