Women’s Political Agency and Public Education in the 19th Century Kathryn Ann Nicholas A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2018 Reading Committee: Nancy E. Beadie, Chair Margaret Pugh O’Mara Joy A. Williamson-Lott Program Authorized to Offer Degree: College of Education © Copyright 2018 Kathryn Ann Nicholas University of Washington Abstract Women’s Political Agency and Public Education in the 19th Century Kathryn Ann Nicholas Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr. Nancy Beadie College of Education This study examines the relationship between women’s political agency and educational office holding in the mid- to-late 19th century. In the process, it expands the intersection between two domains of scholarship. Research related to the history of public schooling includes a large body of literature on the feminization of teaching in the U.S. beginning in the mid-19th century with a much smaller body of literature examining the rise in women’s school and district-level leadership in the early 20th century. Meanwhile, the field of American political development has begun to suggest a relationship between the rise of women’s formal political agency in the 20th century and their longer history of involvement in education politics. The few scholars examining women’s advancement as school administrators and their entry into electoral politics in both domains have suggested that the growth of school suffrage nationwide increased women’s political opportunities in the early decades of the twentieth century. New research tools, specifically the digitization of historic records, allowing for a systematic analysis of nineteenth century school suffrage provisions finds that these provisions had less to do with women’s broader voting rights than previously thought. It also reinforces the fact that suffrage rights and office holding were two separate facets of political citizenship. Expanding the discussion beyond school suffrage, this dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of school suffrage, women’s educational office holding, and related provisions for all states and territories in the U.S. during the 19th century. In the process it reveals that women held elective and appointed educational offices more broadly and for a longer period of time than has been thought. This was particularly true in the West although such opportunities varied greatly. Focusing specifically on Montana and Washington, this study documents both similarities and differences in patterns related to school suffrage and women’s educational office holding in both states. Through a detailed examination of the circumstances which allowed women’s election (or appointment) as county school superintendents, their demographic backgrounds, and the job duties related to the position; this dissertation explores factors that promoted women’s political agency and education leadership from 1870-1900. Acknowledgements It is said that a person dies three times: once when their heart stops beating, once when their body is committed to the grave, and once when the last memory of them fades. To me, historic research will always have an element of breathing life into long-forgotten moments while rescuing individuals from their final death. The women in this study have been my muses. There have been times that it has felt that they joined me on this journey, whispering in my ear assisting me in telling their stories. May their memory not fade from our historic understanding as we begin to comprehend their critical role in expanding women’s political agency in the nineteenth century while they quietly, without fanfare, shaped the nation’s public education systems. I began this project trying to understand how and why women were being elected to state level offices in states where they had just received the right to vote. What I discovered was that women had been elected (often only by men) to educational offices during the last decades of the nineteenth century. I had no clue how widespread women’s educational office holding had actually been. In Montana and Washington alone, I found at least 354 women who were formally appointed to, nominated for and elected as county school superintendents prior to the twentieth century. These women, long forgotten, are actually among the progenitors of women’s political involvement as elected governmental officials. Long before most women had the right to vote and long before the first women were elected to state legislatures and to federal office, these women were elected (and paid) to be the voice of their constituents. Maybe there is something i we can learn as we continue to wonder why nearly 150 years later women still are not being elected at levels proportional to their numbers in the general population. Outside of their support as I worked through the process of researching, synthesizing and writing about a topic near to my heart, my dissertation committee has helped shape my perspective of what it means to be a scholar. Although I had intended to focus on something else when I first began graduate studies, it was Nancy’s History of Education class that allowed me to discover where my scholarly home truly was. At the time, there was no way of knowing that we would share a common interest in the last half of the nineteenth century and the clues yet to be found regarding the development of our modern education systems. Joy provided an ear and a strong shoulder as I tried to find balance between trying to be a scholar, a wife, a mother, and a daughter in what sometimes felt like insurmountable circumstances. Her willingness to talk about all aspects of the academic life deepened my appreciation for both the art and the science of good scholarship. Margaret’s recognition that academic work alone was not enough and that it was important to be ready and willing to bring historic understanding to modern day events for the broader public helped shape my understanding of what should be a scholar’s place in the world. Marge, in her own life story, modelled what is meant to be on a quest to improve public education not just from the ivory tower but from the lived experiences of those in the classroom. To each of them, I am thankful. I owe a debt of deep gratitude to the archivists and librarians who have patiently listened to my research questions and helped me track down esoteric sources. Of particular help have been the staff of the University of Washington Special Collections, the Washington State Archives (both the main and regional branches), and the Montana Historical Society Research Center. A special thank you goes to the staff of the University of Washington’s Interlibrary Loan ii Department. They found for me long-forgotten articles in long out-of-print magazines, requested from distant libraries more books than I care to count and, more importantly for my research regarding the election of women in nineteenth century Montana and Washington, processed over sixty-five rolls of microfilmed newspapers. The election data used in this dissertation would not have been nearly as complete without their assistance. I would be negligent if I failed to thank scholars who have attended sessions where I presented parts of this research at professional meetings over the past six years. The perceptive feedback, valuable insight, and thoughtful questions they shared all helped shape the direction my research took. Those who willingly took extra time to listen to explanations of my growing obsession have been particularly appreciated. There are three who deserve special recognition. Jackie Blount, Michael Pisapia, and Thomas J. Mertz all willingly shared their time and their professional expertise even though I was not one of their students. I have appreciated our discussions. Our informal History of Education writing group that has morphed over the years as members have successfully completed their dissertations provided a place to not only improve our craft while offering kind ears as we each tried to find our way through the academic maze called grad school. Although many have come and gone from our little group, Michael Bowman, Rebecca Wellington and Katja Koehnlein consistently showed gentle kindness, indispensable humor, and, on occasion, an all-important kick in the pants. Everyone would be lucky to have such professional colleagues. Special thank yous to my family, this project would never have happened without their support. To my parents, Hal and Harriet (Lehman) Muhrlein for their modeling of lifelong learning including demonstrating that formal schooling did not have to end in your twenties (or iii even forties); to my children, Jessica and Jason, for being my cheerleaders as I tried to breathe life into the stories of just a few more “dead people”; and to my husband, Kim, who may have not have fully understood the reasons behind my harebrained desire for further education, but recognized its importance to me. His love and support has been invaluable. Thank you, Kim, for allowing me to build my own airplane. iv Table of Contents Table of Figures .……………………….……………………………………….……..……….viii Table of Tables ……….………………………………………………………..………..……….ix Introduction .…………………………………………………………………..…………………..1 Chapter One: Reassessing School Suffrage ……………………………………………………..17 Defining “School Suffrage” in Law and Practice …………………………….…….……….21 Exploring the Chronology and Geography of Initial School Suffrage Provisions – Expanding Women’s Right to Vote on School