Ella Grasso spent much of her political career as one of only a handful of women in the room. She changed Connecticut politics in 1974, though, when she was the first woman to be elected governor in this state. “She not only proved that a woman could do the job, she made everybody know that a woman could do the job,” said Barbara Kennelly, a longtime friend who followed Grasso’s path in several elected offices.

Grasso’s victory was also trailblazing nationwide, as she was the first woman elected governor of any state on her own. The three women who had been elected governor elsewhere in the nation prior to Grasso were either the wife or widow of a governor.