Ethel Reed Maynard

Legislative Resolution

View Legislative Resolution File for Ethel Reed Maynard

Biographical Information

The following is from the Legislative death resolution:

Ethel Reed Maynard, a former member of the House of Representatives, died on May 20, 1980 at the age of seventy-six years.

Ethel Maynard, a Democrat from Tucson, was the only black woman to have ever served as an Arizona legislator.  Mrs. Maynard served three terms in the House of Representatives from 1967 through 1972.  She served on the Public Health and Welfare Committee, the Committee on State Government, the Judiciary Committee and the Suffrage and Elections Committee during her tenure in the House.

Ethel Reed was born in Waterbury, Connecticut on November 23, 1905 to Dr. and Mrs. Isaac William Reed.  She married Dr. Aubre de L. Maynard of New York City and they had one daughter.

Mrs. Maynard moved to Tucson in 1946 after working for eighteen years as a public health nurse in Harlem for the New York City Health Department.  She was also a Nurse for Tucson School District 1 until her retirement in 1971.

Ethel Maynard was active in civic as well as political affairs.  She was particularly devoted to causes to improve life for Arizona's minority citizens.  During racial disturbances in Tucson in 1967, she challenged the demonstrators to replace the slogan, "Burn, baby, burn!" with "Build, baby, build!"  Mrs. Maynard emphasized having pride in being black.  Further, she lived the kind of life which provided an appropriate example to all Arizonans as to the significant contributions that both minorities and women could make for our society.

Some of the many memberships and offices of Mrs. Maynard included the Tucson Commission on Human Relations, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Vice-President of the Tucson Council for Civic Unity, founder of the Safford Area Council of the Tucson Committee for Economic Opportunity, Arizona Delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention, Board of Planned Parenthood, League of Women Voters and the American Indian Affairs Council.

As a legislator, she often raised new issues and offered a different and thoughtful perspective on chronic problems.  Some of her statements of position have become standards for candidates for public office, including opposition to freeway disruption or destruction of neighborhoods and advocacy of an automobile emissions inspection.

The loss of a leader who was also such a concerned person will be felt throughout this state.

Arizona Women's Hall of Fame biography:

Born in Waterbury, Connecticut on November 23, 1905, Ethel Reed Maynard moved to Arizona in 1946. She had trained as a Registered Nurse in the Bellevue and Allied Hospital in Harlem and then worked for 18 years as a public health nurse in the city.

She married Dr. Aubre de L. Maynard and had one daughter.  After moving to Tucson in 1946, she began a job as school nurse that lasted until 1971.  She also became a community activist, serving as vice president of the civil rights organization, Tucson Council for Civic Unity, which like its Phoenix counterpart, the Greater Phoenix Council for Civic Unity, worked for desegregation of schools, public facilities and employment.  After civil rights measures became law, Maynard served as a member of the 1968 Tucson Commission on Human Relations that monitored integration of public facilities, employment, and housing. 

Maynard was founder and Executive Board member of the Safford Area Council of the Tucson Committee for Economic Opportunity that helped impoverished people.  She also served on the Executive Board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Board of Planned Parenthood.  Her years as a public health nurse in Harlem led her to push for improved access to birth control and revisions in abortion laws.  In addition, Maynard became active in the Democratic Party as precinct committee woman, attending the Democratic National Convention in 1956.

Ethel Maynard was the first African American woman elected to the Arizona state legislature, serving from 1966 to 1972.   Her committee assignments included Public Health and Welfare, Judiciary, and the Suffrage and Elections Committees.  Working with another legislator, Etta Mae Hutchenson, Maynard wrote the bill for state-supported kindergarten that passed in 1971.  Welfare reform, including the rehabilitation and employment of heads of families, were also important to her.  Maynard became known for her ability to offer a different and thoughtful perspective on chronic problems.  Early on she opposed neighborhood disruption due to freeways and advocated automobile emissions inspections.  She also supported giving 18-year-olds the right to vote.  

During racial disturbances in Tucson in 1967, Maynard challenged demonstrators to replace the slogan, “Burn, baby, burn!” with “Build, baby, build!”  She emphasized pride in being black and strived to improve conditions through her work in the Legislature and involvement in civil rights organizations.  She died in 1980 at the age of 76 after a lengthy bout with heart disease.

Additional Information

"Ethel Maynard was the first African American woman elected to the Arizona state legislature...."  (Arizona Women's Hall of Fame biography)

Employment

Arizona Legislative Service

Sources

Birth: Arizona Legislative Biography sheet however, SSDI:  Nov 23, 1904 (sic); Death: SSDI and Legislative death resolution