Mildred Barry Hughes (1902-1995)
Courtesy, Special Collections/ University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Mildred Barry Hughes of Elizabeth was the first woman elected to the New Jersey Senate. A Democrat, she was elected to the Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1963 and sponsored many successful bills. When she won her Senate seat in 1965, she was the first Democrat from Union County to be elected to the Senate in 75 years.