On July 6, 1950, the Placer County Board of Supervisors and the Placer County Planning Commission passed resolutions requesting that California Governor Earl Warren appoint Edith McFadden to serve the remainder of her late husband’s term as supervisor for District 5.
On April 19, 1950, John McFadden, District 5 supervisor for Placer County, passed away after a long illness. While he was ill, he continued to communicate with the other supervisors and county staff through his wife, Edith. Her familiarity with his work is what prompted the board and commission to favor her appointment.
The July 13, 1950, Auburn Journal published the historic news: “Mrs. Edith McFadden of Foresthill has been appointed supervisor for the fifth Placer County district to succeed her husband, the late Jack McFadden, who died last spring. The appointment, extending until the results of the November general election are known, was announced yesterday in Sacramento by Governor Earl Warren of California.”
Edith, who did not run for reelection, served until Dec. 4 of that year, when L.L. Anderson, the winner of the election for supervisor of District 5, took his seat.
In 1976, Terry Cook became the first woman elected to serve as a Placer County supervisor when she won the race for District 3, but the first woman to ever serve as a Placer County supervisor was Edith McFadden in 1950.
Photo: Dec. 14, 1950, Auburn Journal photograph of Edith McFadden congratulating L.L. Anderson on his District 5 victory.
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