Leslie Bradley Cutler (1890-1971) was an American politician who served in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the ...

Early life

Cutler was born on March 24, 1890, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. She graduated from the Haskell School, and attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...

, and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. On December 14, 1912 she married Roger W. Cutler, a businessman and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer. The couple had four children, two of whom (

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and

Roger Jr. The following is a list of characters from the fighting game series '' Tekken''. Characters are chronologically listed in order of the game in which they debuted. Characters Players can choose from a diverse cast that hails from a variety of ...

) competed in rowing in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. She also raised a nephew after her brother's death in 1921. Cutler divorced her husband on December 17, 1928 in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

on the charge of desertion.

Political career

Cutler began her political career in 1923 when she ran for the

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is home of Olin College. History Early settlement Needham was first settled in 1680 with the purchase of a ...

Board of Selectmen. She lost by 57 votes. She ran again in 1924 and won. She was the first woman to hold elected office in Needham and only one of two female selectmen in Massachusetts at the time of her election. She was reelected in 1925 and was chosen to serve as chairman of the board. When the town created a Board of Health in 1927, she chose to serve on it instead of the Board of Selectmen. She would remain on the board until 1967. Cutler ran unsuccessfully for the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1928, 1930, and 1932 before winning in 1934. She served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1935 to 1949 and the Massachusetts Senate from 1949 to 1969. She was the twelfth woman elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the second to be elected to the Senate. Cutler helped the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation acquire the land for

Cutler Park Cutler Park is a state-owned nature preserve and public recreation area that lies between Route 128/I-95 and the Charles River in Needham, Massachusetts. The state park's contain the largest remaining freshwater marsh on the middle Charles Ri ...

, a state park in Needham. Cutler died on November 27, 1971, at her home in Needham.

References

1890 births 1971 deaths Cutler family Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Republican Party Massachusetts state senators Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Needham, Massachusetts Radcliffe College alumni Women state legislators in Massachusetts 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians {{Massachusetts-MASenate-stub

Early life

Political career

See also

References