Odd Fellows Lodge

220 Roanoke Avenue

Narrator: Syrena Stackpole (1888-1983, Wellesley,1909). Voiced by Nancy Gilbert, (Wellesley 1969).

Hello, I’m Syrena Stackpole. That’s my mother Mary with me in the photo. When I was elected justice of the peace and town board member in 1931, I was the first woman in Suffolk County ever elected to public office. The Democratic State Committee sent me a congratulatory note saying, and I quote: "The first time that a woman breaks into public office is a landmark in the progress of women, and you have blazed a trail for others to follow."

A year later, my fellow Democrat, president-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt, invited me to the White House on the occasion of his inaugural parade. Here’s the invitation – and a couple other pictures of me.

My courtroom was right here in this building built by the Odd Fellows lodge in 1929. They were known for their “fraternal spirit,” social events, and charitable and benevolent work. The Odd Fellows had been meeting in the old Terry’s Hall still standing on Griffing Avenue. The Odd Fellows had their social hall and lodge on the second and third floors of the new building, but Riverhead’s Town Hall occupied the first floor and basement space until 1976. I spent many hours holding court here. The police department and jail were here too, so it was very convenient.

It is worth looking at the Colonial Revival details of the building. Glance up at the deep wooden cornices with dentils and the beautiful arched windows with decorative keystones and pre-cast concrete arches. It was designed by Patchogue architect August H. Galow, who was responsible for the Commercial Building at One East Main Street, along with the Perkins Hotel and the Suffolk County Historical Society building.

The diagonal brickwork patterns under the third-floor windows are identical to the designs on the Commercial Building. The building even had the first elevator installed in Riverhead, by Otis Elevator. The Riverhead News called the building “the crowning achievement of the splendid history of Odd Fellowship in Riverhead.”

I was just 42 years old at the time of my historic election and continued to practice law in Riverhead until I was in my 90s. I had some other firsts. I was the first kindergarten student in Riverhead – my parents founded the school. In 1903 I was the Riverhead High School valedictorian – at age 14! I am very proud to tell you that I earned my bachelor's degree at Wellesley College. What a wonderful experience that was. After college I taught school, raised chickens and worked as a stenographer, librarian, and secretary -- before returning to school to earn a law degree at New York University School of Law. I became the first woman admitted to the Suffolk County Bar Association and the first Suffolk County woman attorney to have her own law practice – right here in Riverhead. My papers and memorabilia were donated to the Suffolk County Historical Society.

My mother Mary Hayes Stackpole was a pioneer, too. She was one of the leaders of the local women’s suffrage movement. I’m sure she was there in 1894 when Susan B. Anthony visited Riverhead right over there in the county Court House. My mother became the Republican nominee for Suffolk County Tax Collector in 1913 and came in second running against three men! Her candidacy was part of a militant suffrage strategy to vote illegally, get arrested if necessary, and go to jail in order to publicize the injustice of denying women the right to vote. We women finally won the right to vote in New York in 1917 – but would you believe that Riverhead voted against that referendum by 376 to 310? My dad George Stackpole was a Riverhead attorney and a staunch supporter of my mother’s suffrage activism. It took a few more years before the suffrage movement’s work resulted in the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920.

Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Research Librarian at the Suffolk County Historical Society, contributed to this script.

August Galow’s papers and the papers and memorabilia of Syrena Stackpole are in the Suffolk County Historical Society Library Archives.