Presented by Saint Albans Museum & Vermont Humanities this event is part of the series SAM Talks. These talks are free and open to the general public. Join us after the talk for the March Chamber Mixer co-hosted by St. Albans Rotary Club.

THE TALK

Consuelo Northrop Bailey (1899-1976) was a national pioneer among women in public service. Born and raised in Fairfield, Vermont, a 1921 graduate of the University of Vermont, Bailey was one of the first women in America to serve as a state’s attorney, as speaker of a state house of representatives, and as lieutenant-governor. Vice-chair of the Republican National Committee from 1952 to 1956, she was also the first Vermont woman approved to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Kevin Graffagnino’s talk details the life and career of this extraordinary Vermont role model for women in politics and the law. 

THE SPEAKER

Historian J. Kevin Graffagnino is the author or editor of 15 books on Vermont history, including Vermont in the Victorian Age (1985), The Quotable Ethan Allen (2005), The Vermont Difference (2014), and Vermont Heritage (2020). In 2024, Graffagnino brought his passion, as well as his life’s work, full circle with what can only be described as a magnus opus, in “Vermontiana: An Annotated Checklist, 1764-1899,” a comprehensive illustrated catalogue and history of 154 Vermont-related print collectibles. He served as Executive Director of the Vermont and Kentucky state historical societies, Curator of Vermont History at UVM Libraries, and as Director of the University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library.

Image: Vermont members of the Little Congress. Consuelo is fourth from right.