Florence Wood Hanby (April 18, 1870 – February 22, 1963) was a politician representing

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of th ...

, United States. Hanby was the first woman elected to the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisl ...

, winning a seat in the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

in 1924.

Career

Hanby was a Republican representing

Brandywine Hundred Brandywine Hundred (also known as North Wilmington) is an unincorporated subdivision of New Castle County, Delaware. It is located to the north and northeast of the city of Wilmington. Hundreds were once used as a basis for representation in th ...

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

. Hanby was greeted cordially by her fellow assembly members. Upon arriving at the State House in January 1925, two floral bouquets were on her desk, to which she remarked, "it looks like a second wedding". While in office, Hanby advocated to help victims of tuberculosis, and introduced the "Hope Farm Bill" to provide funding for an anti-tuberculosis hospital at Hope Farm, near Marshallton.

Sources

1870 births 1963 deaths Republican Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives Women state legislators in Delaware Place of birth missing {{Delaware-politician-stub