Allegany County Maryland--Women

The Town of Luke Maryland was incorporated in 1922. As noted in the Cumberland Times-News of July 13, 2012, two women were among the newly elected town officers. Depicted above from left to right, and elected to serve for the 2012-2014 term, are Luke Town Commissioners Donna P. Fracasso and Janet M. Bryan, who was an incumbent. Bryan was appointed Parks and Recreation and Water Commissioner, while the position of Streets Commissioner will be filled by Donna Fracasso. The 2010 census for Luke showed a population of 65 people.

Dawne D. Lindsey, a Republican and a 1983 graduate of Mt. Savage High School, was appointed to the position of Allegany County Clerk of the Circuit Court in July 2001. She was later elected to the position in 2002, and in 2006, 2010 and 2014 ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections. Lindsey is the first female Allegany County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Judge Diane O. Leasure

Update: From the Cumberland Times News, March 13, 2012:

On December 7, 1998 the City of Cumberland hired Geena S. Kile as its first female firefighter. Firefighter/EMT-B Kile is a 1995 graduate of Fort Hill High School.

Geena has represented the Fire Department as a speaker at Cumberland schools career days, including Northeast Elementary in 2007.

UPDATE: The following are excerpts appearing in an article from the August 20, 2017 edition of the Cumberland Times-News:

Susan Marie Jones (1942-)

Susan M. Jones, a Democrat, is the first African-American, man or woman, to be elected to Allegany County-wide office.
This was in 1990 when she was elected as a Judge to the Allegany County Orphan's Court. Jones served in this capacity from 1991-1995.

Rose Hay was initially appointed by Governor Marvin Mandel to fill a vacancy as judge on the Allegany County Orphan’s Court. She would later run for this position and in 1978 became the first woman elected to the Orphan’s Court. Re-elected in 1982 she would serve as Chief Judge until her retirement in 1986.

Mon Aug 01, 2011, 11:23 PM EDT

— CUMBERLAND — Linda A. Golden, 63, of Cumberland, passed away Sunday, July 31, 2011 at the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center.

Born in Cumberland on Aug. 24, 1947, she was the daughter of the late Harvey R. Golden and Gracine (Schade) Golden, with whom she resided.

Frances Hughes Glendening.

A 1969 graduate of Allegany High School, “Francie” went on to obtain her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Maryland at College Park, and her Law Degree from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. She has the distinction of being recognized three times as one of Maryland's "Top 100 Women" by the Daily Record, the leading Maryland business and legal journal.

CUMBERLAND — For many people, the phrase “I do” refers to a commitment from one person to another as both enter what they hope will be a lifelong partnership in marriage.
For Amanda Glass-Winner, the utterance of the phrase before Allegany County Circuit Court Clerk Dawne Lindsey equated to a different kind of promise. Glass-Winner, 34, was sworn in Thursday afternoon as the second female deputy in the history of the 218-year-old Allegany County Sheriff’s Office and the first in nearly four decades.

CUMBERLAND — Three office relocations, six county administrators and 10 boards of Allegany County commissioners, Carol Gaffney has outlasted them all.

On Thursday, Commissioners Jim Stakem, Bob Hutcheson and Dale Lewis recognized Gaffney for more than 38 years as a county government employee, including more than 36 years in her current role as county clerk. Her last day of work is today, a day after the last of more than 2,500 public meetings for which Gaffney has recorded minutes.