During this 100th anniversary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the Morgan Hill Historical Society honors an unsung hero who was one of our own. Virginia Mae Days was a woman of Mexican American heritage who fought for all people and whose life’s work is a legacy that benefits our community today.
Days was born during the Great Depression, was raised in Morgan Hill, and graduated from Live Oak High School in 1952. She served in the U.S. Navy and went to college on the G.I. Bill, earning Bachelor’s and Law degrees at UC Berkeley (1960-63).
Over the next decade she built her San Jose law practice while donating legal services to the Santa Clara County Bar Association as well as committees focused on support of Community Legal Services.
Between 1969 and 1978, Days devoted her energies to Morgan Hill by serving on the Planning Commission, the City Council, and as the City’s first woman Mayor—a seat she held for three terms. She went on to become the first woman and first Latina Director of the California Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Impressed by Days’ accomplishments, Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to the Santa Clara County Superior Court. The
first Latina judge on the bench served it well for two decades.
Days embraced community service through YMCA, AAUW and Gavilan College and was an active member of St. Catherine’s Church of Morgan Hill. She passed away in 2015. She was a trailblazer in our midst whose legacy is a model of community service and social justice for our times.
Read MHHS Board Member Linnie Lee’s story about Virginia Mae Days in Morgan Hill Life.
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