Lila Manfield Sapinsley (September 9, 1922 – December 9, 2014) was an American politician. Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Sapinsley received her degree in psychology from Wellesley College in 1944. Sapinsley was originally 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 ...

. However, in 1964 she created "Democrats for Chafee", an advocacy group for the gubernatorial campaign of

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

John Chafee John Lester Hubbard Chafee ( ; October 22, 1922 – October 24, 1999) was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party (United States), he served as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as ...

. After Chafee's victory as governor, she was appointed to the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

Board of Trustees of Stage Colleges and eventually became its chair. In 1972 she ran for

Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of wh ...

as an Independent and won. Later on, she joined the Republican Party and soon became the first female minority leader of the senate. In the Senate, she worked on women's issues, including opposing strict restrictions on abortion and fighting for the equal treatment for women in obtaining credit. She also sponsored government transparency and ethics legislation. In 1984, Sapinsley unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor, and soon became chairwoman of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation (RIHMFC) a year later. After two years of working to improve the RIHMFC's reputation, she became the commissioner of the Public Utilities Commission, a title she held until her retirement in 1993. Even in retirement, Sapinsley served as a volunteered for the Providence Public Library; for Dorcas Place, a parent literacy center; as a co-chair of Senator John Chafee's campaign for re-election; and as president of the Wellesley College class of 1944. Sapinsley has served on the board of trustees for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

Butler Hospital Butler Hospital is a private, non-profit, psychiatric and substance abuse hospital for adolescents, adults, and seniors, located at 345 Blackstone Boulevard in Providence, Rhode Island. The hospital is affiliated with the Warren Alpert Medical Sch ...

, the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island, Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island, Temple Beth El and the Wellesley Center for Research on Women. Her awards include honorary degrees from the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

, Rhode Island College, and Brown University; she also was given the Legislator of the Year award by the National Conference of Republican Legislators and was the two-time Woman of the Year, according to the Governor's commission on Women. She is an inductee to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Sapinsley died at home 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 ...

in December 2014.Sapinsley, a trailblazer for women in R.I. politics, dies at 92
' Providence Journal, Paul Edward Parker, December 9, 2014

Notes

1922 births 2014 deaths Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Wellesley College alumni Rhode Island Democrats Rhode Island Independents Rhode Island Republicans Women state legislators in Rhode Island Rhode Island state senators 21st-century American women {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub