WORCESTER, Mass. - Sara Robertson, the first woman to serve as mayor of Worcester, passed away at the age of 88. Those who knew her are remembering Robertson as a true trailblazer in the region. 

When Robertson moved to Worcester from Long Island, California, she was reluctant to embrace it as her home, but went on to say ‘You can’t judge a book by it’s cover.’ 

Robertson was in office from 1982 to 1984, and 23 years later, Konstantina Lukes would become the second woman to occupy the office. She said Robertson had to deal with a divided city council and kept her composure in a hectic environment. 

“She always handled the situation with grace and confidence," Lukes said. "She promoted Worcester when she was in the position of mayor, and she left, I think, a very good image of what a female mayor could do. And it was much more than the male mayors were doing.”

Lukes believes Robertson left the mayor’s office having made a good impression on the public, and her time as president of the Worcester League of Women Voters also made her a staple in the community. 

In a 2006 interview with the Worcester Women’s Oral History Project, Robertson said people first began to take notice of her in the early 1960s when she protested at city hall for easier voting access while she was nine months pregnant. 

Lukes said Robertson was a role model who made it easier for other women to seek higher positions in city government, including her own run for mayor two decades later. 

“Women who followed her in politics didn’t have to fear overcoming any negative images of women in politics," Lukes said. "They were able to follow her lead and establish the kind of professionalism and patterns of behavior that only brought dignity and respect to the city council and local politics.”