FROM JUNE 1955
The Courier-Record last week incorrectly reported that Carole Hagaman was the first woman to join Town Council when she was appointed in 1974 after the resignation of Gordon Cole.
Actually, the first woman to run for Town Council and also serve on Blackstone Town Council was the late Evelyn Powell. She won election 70 years ago, in June 1955, in a race that included nine other candidates — all men.
In those days, Town Council elections were held in June. There were no wards; Council candidates ran at-large, with the top seven vote-getters winning election.
In that historic 1955 election, it was Mrs. Powell’s first run for office, and she finished 7th in the 10-way race with 371 votes.
Mrs. Powell not only was the first woman elected to Blackstone Town Council, but she’s also believed to have been among the first women to serve on a town council in Virginia. Among her living relatives here is a daughter, Matilda “Tilly” Conley.
Mrs. Powell won re-election in 1957 when all seven Blackstone incumbents ran unopposed.
She lost her seat in 1959, finishing eighth in a crowded field of 12 candidates. She was in a Norfolk hospital at the time and missed the 1959 Election Day. Grabbing her spot was first-time candidate Marvin “Tech” Inge, who would later serve as Mayor from 1976-82.
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