Irma L. Anderson was the elected mayor of the city of
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council. serving between 2001 and 2006. She ran for re-election as the incumbent
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
in the
2006 mayoral race and lost to
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
challenger councilperson
Gayle McLaughlin
Gayle McLaughlin (born 1952) is an American politician from Richmond, California. She was first elected to the Richmond City Council in 2004 when she was a member of the Green Party of California. She won two consecutive four-year terms as the ...
by 192 votes.
Before serving as mayor she was a member of the city council from 1993 through 2000. She was the first black woman to serve on the
Richmond city council[''Contra Costa Times'' profile](_blank)
December 18, 2006. and arguably claimed to be the first
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
woman
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
elected mayor of a major
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
city (although
Doris A. Davis
Doris A. Davis (born circa 1935) is a former mayor of Compton, California, who earned a place in history as the first African-American woman mayor of a metropolitan city in the United States.
Political career
In 1965, 33-year-old Davis defeated i ...
served as mayor of slightly smaller
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...
in 1973).
["Woman, 70, wins Richmond race"](_blank)
San Francisco Chronicle via sfgate.com, November 8, 2001; retrieved December 12, 2011.
Anderson earned both
RN and
BSN degrees from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
. She also earned an
MPH at the school of public health of
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and was a high school
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
.
In 1954, Anderson came to Richmond, California with her husband, the late Rev. Booker T. Anderson Jr. (who served as Mayor of Richmond from 1973 to 1974). Anderson has two sons named Ahmad and Wilbert. Ahmad ran for Richmond City Council in 2020.
Anderson's career changed from nursing to politics working for the
Contra Costa County
) of the San Francisco Bay
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1 = State
, subdivision_name1 = California
, subdivision_type2 ...
Health Department where she began as a nurse and advanced to Director of Public Health Nursing. As mayor, Anderson worked with the
West Contra Costa Unified School District
The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD; formerly known as Richmond School District) is the school district for western Contra Costa County, California. It is based in Richmond, California. In addition to Richmond, the district co ...
developing after-school programs throughout the city of Richmond.
See also
*
Gayle McLaughlin
Gayle McLaughlin (born 1952) is an American politician from Richmond, California. She was first elected to the Richmond City Council in 2004 when she was a member of the Green Party of California. She won two consecutive four-year terms as the ...
*
Rosemary Corbin Rosemary Corbin is a longstanding Democratic public figure and former mayor of Richmond, California.
*
Mayors of Richmond, California
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
*
Politics of the United States
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...
References
External links
Richmond City CouncilU.S. Conference of Mayors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Irma A.
Cornell University alumni
Mayors of Richmond, California
Richmond City Council members (California)
Women mayors of places in California
African-American mayors in California
African-American nurses
American nurses
American women nurses
Living people
UC Berkeley School of Public Health alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
20th-century American women politicians
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century American politicians
20th-century American politicians
1930s births
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American politicians
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American politicians
African-American women mayors