Susan L. (née Lawson) Farmer (May 29, 1942 – September 16, 2013) was an American politician, media executive and television personality. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she went to

Garland Junior College Garland Junior College (1872–1976) was a liberal arts women's college in Boston, Massachusetts. Mary Garland established the Garland Kindergarten Training School in 1872 on Chestnut Street in Boston's Beacon Hill. By 1903, the school had expa ...

and

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Extension Division. Farmer got her start in politics protesting the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

with her husband Malcolm Farmer and helped start a dump-

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

rally that drew thousands to the

Rhode Island State House The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 900 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, on the border of downtown in Providence. It is a neoclassical building designed by McKim, Mead & White wh ...

. In 1972, she ran the Rhode Island campaign for California Republican

Pete McCloskey Paul Norton McCloskey Jr. (born September 29, 1927) is an American politician who represented San Mateo County, California as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967 to 1983. Born in Loma Linda, California, McCloskey pursued ...

, who was trying to deny Nixon another nomination for president. After becoming then-U.S. Senator John Chafee’s finance director in 1976, Farmer ran for and won, in 1979, a seat on the commission drafting a new Home Rule charter for the city of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. She then ran for Secretary of State of Rhode Island in 1980, but lost to incumbent Robert Burns, before winning two years later in 1982 by defeating Democrat and future Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Victoria Lederberg. Farmer was the first woman in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

history to serve in statewide constitutional office and served two two-year terms, from 1982 through 1986 as a Republican. After elected office, she then served as General Manager of Rhode Island PBS until her retirement in 2004. She died in 2013, in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, at the age of 71 of cancer. Farmer was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2010, and was a 2013 recipient of the

Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill (June 8, 1880 – March 17, 1975) was a stage and screen actor of the silent film era, a suffragist, and the first woman elected to the Rhode Island Legislature. She also served in the state Senate and, under President Fra ...

Award. She is memorialized to this day by a sandwich named the "Susan Farmer" at Geoff’s Superlative Sandwiches in Providence.Menu of Geoff's Superlative Sandwiches Shop
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References

External links

* 1942 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Boston Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Brown University alumni Secretaries of State of Rhode Island Rhode Island Republicans Women in Rhode Island politics Deaths from cancer in Rhode Island 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub