Spotlight #7: Consuelo Bailey

This photo and the accompanying caption were originally posted to our Facebook page (link to external site) on March 29, 2023.

Consuelo “Connie” Northrop Bailey (1899-1976) was born in Fairfield, VT. She was a hard worker in school, and decided to become a lawyer at the age of fifteen after watching a court case where a lawyer unjustly argued that a woman was “too short” to inherit a large amount of money.

Consuelo attended Boston University Law School in 1922, and practiced law for multiple decades; during this time, she became the first woman admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1953, she decided to switch to politics, and she became the first woman in Vermont to be elected Speaker of the House. In 1954, Bailey won the election for Lieutenant Governor and became the first woman Lt. Governor of Vermont. Northrop Bailey was instrumental in promoting equality for women in Vermont politics and paved the way for future women in the field.