Lucy Winston: Determination in a Dress

lndividuals in history are often well known, mostly because of the attention they receive for their accomplishments. However, it is not uncommon for an individual in history to be forgotten when the history textbooks are written. Attempts to break world records happen every day, but the public rarely hears of the attempt, unless it is successful. In the same light, the circumstances affecting political elections are often forgotten. Such was the case with Lucy D. Winston of Mechanicsburg, who, in 1930, ran for Secretary of Internal Affairs for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

For years, it was a popular misconception that former Senior Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Genevieve Blatt, was the first woman to run for a state-wide office on a major party ticket. This belief had even been held by Judge Blatt herself, until, upon speaking with her, this writer confirmed the rumors she had been hearing about a woman who ran twenty-four years before she.² That woman was Mrs. Lucy D. Winston, Democrat, of Mechanicsburg. She opposed Philip H. Dewey for the office of Secretary of Internal Affairs, and, while faring better than the Democratic nominees for other offices, lost the election. This does not, by any means, make Lucy Winston a loser. Her courage and determination, and not the results of the election of 1930, provide an image of the life of Lucy Winston.

Owner and proprietor of Winston's Dry Goods Store in Mechanicsburg, Mrs. Winston was president of Mechanicsburg's Woman's Club from 1921-1924. She was a large-framed, pleasant woman, prosperous, yet very friendly. Her husband Thomas and she owned a factory called the Little Hope Cap Company which was located behind their home on West Main Street.³ The factory's specialty was baby clothes,⁴ which were shipped to New York City.⁵

According to Mrs. Doman, Mrs. Winston held no public office,⁶ although she was head of the State organization for Democratic Women.⁷

Mrs. Winston seems to have been a colorful person. According to Marjorie Mohler and Mae Noss, Mrs. Winston and her husband kept bees, which they brought to Mohler's farm. Mrs. Mohler also recalled that when she was a child she used to go to Winston's Dry Goods Store to listen to their radio, which at the time, was one of the only ones in town.⁸

Mrs. Winston was originally from East Union, Maine. Her husband was supposedly from the South, possibly Virginia, but no one seems to know for sure.⁹

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