Election 1983: Enter Kentucky’s first woman governor

The season is upon us, and when better to revisit some Bluegrass State election milestones? In November 1983, Martha Layne Collins was voted in as Kentucky’s first woman governor, and the nation’s only woman governor at the time.

Collins grew up in Shelby County, graduated from the University of Kentucky and taught in Louisville public schools before her political career began. She was elected lieutenant governor in 1979, governor in 1983, and one year later was chosen to chair the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

Collins later served as president of St. Catharine’s College, followed by other leadership roles in academia.

– Kristie Coggins, The 100 Companies