[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 87 (Thursday, June 5, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E909-E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF JANET GRAY HAYES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 5, 2014

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise with my colleagues, Congresswoman 
Anna G. Eshoo and Congressman Mike Honda, to honor the life of our 
friend Janet Gray Hayes, the first woman elected as Mayor of San Jose, 
California.
   We often use words like pioneer and trailblazer in tribute to 
inspiring and remarkable individuals, and that certainly is true for 
Janet Gray Hayes. She made a profound impact on our community in San 
Jose, and in a larger sense, was one of the pioneers who helped open 
the doors for women to serve their communities in public service.
   Born Janet Gray Frazee in Rushville, Indiana, on July 12, 1926, she 
was the second of two daughters of John P. Frazee, Jr., and Lucile 
Charman Gray Frazee. Like other members of the famed ``Greatest 
Generation,'' she grew up in the hard scrabble years of the Great 
Depression. These humble beginnings, and the personal challenges she 
overcame, taught Janet Gray about character, empathy for others, and 
standing strong when it came to matters of principle.
   Janet Gray would go on to pursue a higher education, graduating as a 
Phi Betta Kappa at the University of Indiana. She met her future 
husband Kenneth while she was a student at the University of Chicago. 
They married in 1950, after Janet Gray earned a master's degree in 
social work, and she supported his medical studies. Their marriage 
would last for over five decades until Kenneth passed away in 2013.
   In 1956, when Janet Gray's husband Kenneth took a job as a physician 
at Agnews State Hospital, they moved to San Jose. Having been raised in 
an active Republican family, Janet Gray was introduced to politics at a 
young age when her family home became an official campaign base for 
Wendell Willkie, the Republican presidential nominee in 1940. But her 
real impetus for launching into the world of civics and politics came 
when she was eight months pregnant and made an appeal to the City 
Council for a school crossing guard in her neighborhood.
   That battle for a simple community issue would ultimately take 
sixteen years, but it unleashed Janet Gray's involvement in San Jose 
politics. By 1960 she became the president of both the San Jose and Bay 
Area Leagues of Women Voters. Six years later she was appointed to the 
San Jose Redevelopment Board and rose to become chair.
   In 1971, Janet Gray won election to the San Jose City Council, and 
four years later, sought to succeed Mayor Norman Mineta after he was 
elected to Congress. Against tremendous odds, and against a deeply 
entrenched establishment that fought her candidacy, she won.
   Her election threw the doors open for other women to follow, 
sparking a movement for women to get actively involved and seek public 
office. Over the next two elections, women were elected to eight of the 
eleven City Council seats and three out of the five Santa Clara County 
supervisor seats--including a future Member of Congress named Zoe 
Lofgren.
   San Jose was declared the ``feminist capital of the world.'' And as 
Janet Gray welcomed delegates at the 1977 National Women's Political 
Caucus, hosted in the city, she proudly remarked that ``In sunny Santa 
Clara Valley, you are in the heartland of women in power.'' However, 
Janet Gray's accomplishments were not limited to her milestone 
election.
   Her successful stewardship running a major city shattered long held 
myths that women could not be successful executives. Janet Gray made a 
commitment to improving access to the mayor's office and presided over 
San Jose's growth during the high-tech development years by laying out 
a vision to make the city ``better before we make it bigger.'' That 
vision for San Jose is present today in a city that has focused on 
smart growth and urban planning to avoid urban sprawl and achieve a 
better quality of life for its citizens.
   When asked by her son to name her biggest source of pride, Janet 
Gray replied ``I was proudest of the fact that I could open doors. I 
had a lot to do with these women getting where they are today.'' Her 
generous assistance, guidance, leadership and friendship helped 
emerging women leaders after her succeed.
   Mr. Speaker, more than fifty years ago, Adlai Stevenson praised 
another pioneering woman when he said of Eleanor Roosevelt that she 
would `rather light a candle than curse the darkness.' Those words are 
also fitting for Janet Gray Hayes. Because of her, and other pioneering 
women like her, future

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generations of women inherit a country where women are increasingly 
encouraged to engage in serving their communities and our country in 
public office.
   We invite all of our colleagues in Congress to join us in paying 
tribute to the remarkable life and legacy of Janet Gray Hayes.

                          ____________________