How about Mary Beck, first woman elected to Detroit City Council. She served from 1950 - 1970. As noted in the Detroit Free Press obituary, Dr. Beck was remembered by her political opponents and her colleagues on the Common Council for several other things as well - "her unusual hats" and the "swear box," which, in an era when the council chambers were "outfitted with spittoons and stained by cigar smoke," she initiated to fine councilmen who used profanity during sessions, with the proceeds going to charity. "For two decades she was a presence in city politics, and when she left it would never completely be a man's world again."