Helen Barrett Montgomery

Helen Barrett Montgomery was an American social reformer, educator and writer. In 1921 she was elected as the first woman president of the Northern Baptist Convention . She had long been a delegate to the Convention and a policymaker. In 1893 she helped found a chapter of the Womens Educational and Industrial Union in Rochester, New York, and served as president until 1911, nearly two decades. In 1899 Montgomery was the first woman elected to the Rochester School Board and any public office in the city,years before women could vote.

Helen was the eldest of three children born to Amos Judson Barrett and Emily Barrows Barrett, both of whom were then teachers. She was born in Kingsville, Ohio. Her parents moved to Rochester, New York when she was a child so that her father could attend the Rochester Theological Seminary. After he graduated in 1876, he was called as pastor of Lake Avenue Baptist Church in the city. He served there until his death in 1889, when Helen was 28.

Source: Wikipedia