Mamie Eaton was celebrated in the lead article of the December 13, 1928 issue of Public Utilities Reports Fortnightly. She was the first woman to serve as a member of any railroad or public service commission.
Mamie was appointed by Florida's Governor in March 1927, after the death of Commissioner R.L. Eaton, her husband. She was elected to her own term in November 1928.
When she wasn't deciding rate cases? She owned and ran one of the largest growers of watermelon seeds in the world.
The commission was called the Florida Railroad Commission as recently as 1963. The underlying statute for the Florida Public Service Commission is still in the title for railroad regulation.
Telecommunications were regulated by the commission starting in 1911. Investor-owned electric utilities were not regulated, however, until 1951. Investor-owned gas was added the next year.
Though 1929 has been considered the inaugural year of Public Utilities Fortnightly, our magazine actually started on March 22, 1928 as Public Utilities Reports Fortnightly, a mouthful. The Fortnightly was "endorsed by the National Associations of the Utility Industry and by the National Association of Railroad and Utilities Commissioners."
Steve Mitnick, Editor-in-Chief, Public Utilities Fortnightly
E-mail me: mitnick@fortnightly.com
