Fab Five

In 1998, almost 90 years after Arizona women were given the right to vote, five women were elected to serve in the state’s five most important government positions. Jane Dee Hull was elected governor, Betsey Bayless was elected Secretary Of State, Janet Napolitano was elected Attorney General, Carol Springer was elected Treasurer, and Lisa Graham-Keegan was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. To this day, the Fab Five remain the greatest number of women to serve in a state’s highest elected offices at any given time.

Read About It

Use the document analysis sheet and the photograph analysis sheet to uncover clues about the people that created the documents. 

• Financial report of the treasurer of the State of Arizona: June 30, 2000
• Letter from Attorney General Napolitano to Governor Hull, June 24, 2002
• Annual report / Arizona Office of Secretary of State FY 2000
• Annual report of the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Volume I State at a Glance FY 2000

Understand It

1. When were the Fab Five elected? What elected positions had women previously filled in Arizona?
2. Who created the documents linked above? What do these documents tell us about the work of the Fab Five? What don’t these documents tell us about their work?
3. Why do you think ninety years passed between when women were allowed to vote and when women filled all five of the state’s top elected positions?

Explore More

Visit the websites below to learn more. Based on this new information, have your answers to the questions above changed?

For Students

• Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame
• Center for American Women and Politics: Fact Sheets

For Teachers

• Center for American Women and Politics