Mary Clare Higgins is an American politician who was a six-term mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts, from 2000 to 2011. A

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 ...

, she was the second woman to hold the position. Higgins became the executive director of Community Action

Pioneer Valley The Pioneer Valley is the colloquial and promotional name for the portion of the Connecticut River Valley that is in Massachusetts in the United States. It is generally taken to comprise the three counties of Hampden, Hampshire, and Frankli ...

in September 2011.

Education and background

Higgins was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, Pennsylvania, and is one of six siblings. As a adolescent, she moved with her family to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, where her father was active in politics. She earned her bachelor's degree in 2003 through the

University Without Walls (University of Massachusetts Amherst) University Without Walls (UWW) at University of Massachusetts Amherst is a department within the university which provides degree completion coursework for the undergraduate and graduate degrees, enrolled by non-traditional students. The summer s ...

. Higgins worked in

early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equival ...

Career

Higgins became involved in politics in the early 1990s, when she became a commissioner on the board of the Northampton Housing Authority. During the same period, the city drew national media attention for its percentage of lesbians among the population. Higgins was elected as an at-large City Councilor in 1993 and held the office until 1999; she served as president of the council for the last two years. Higgins was elected to her first term as mayor in November 1999, assuming office in January 2000. She was the city's first openly lesbian mayor. Higgins resigned in September 2011 to become executive director of Community Action

. During her tenure, she was able to secure affordable housing for residents who were at risk of losing their homes due to condo conversion. The city's capital improvement fund for infrastructure was greatly expanded and used for a new water filtration plant, a senior center, a new police station, and new public works facility. She is a member of the

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...

, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

mayor Michael Bloomberg and

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 ...

mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...

. Higgins was recognized for her contributions by U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. She campaigned for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

during 2012 as part of the bus tour "Mayors for Obama". She became a monthly columnist for the ''

Daily Hampshire Gazette The ''Daily Hampshire Gazette'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper based in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, and covering all of Hampshire County, southern towns of Franklin County, and Holyoke. The newspaper prints Monday through S ...

''.

References

External links

Office of the Mayor's homepageMayors Against Illegal Guns homepageMary Clare Higgins, Massachusetts, 1993 · Out and Elected in the USA: 1974-2004 Ron Schlittler · OutHistory: It's About Time

Mary Clare Higgins interviewed by Tegan Waring, 2014 November 16 , Smith College Finding Aids
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Clare 21st-century American women politicians American LGBT city council members LGBT mayors of places in the United States Living people Massachusetts Democrats Mayors of places in Massachusetts Politicians from Brooklyn Politicians from Northampton, Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Women city councillors in Massachusetts Women mayors of places in Massachusetts Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American politicians

Education and background

Career

See also

References

External links