Clara Ueland

Clara Hampson Ueland (October 10, 1860 - March 1, 1927) was an American community activist and suffragist. She was the first president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters and worked to advance public welfare legislation.

Clara Ueland
Ueland, ca. 1915
Born
Clara Hampson

(1860-10-10)October 10, 1860
Akron, Ohio
DiedMarch 1, 1927(1927-03-01) (aged 66)
Minnesota

Biography

Personal life

Clara Hampson was born on October 10, 1860 in Akron, Ohio. She married lawyer Andreas Ueland in 1885. The couple and their three oldest daughters moved into a sixteen-room house on the south shore of Lake Calhoun in 1891.[1] She was the mother of writer Brenda Ueland, who wrote a biography of her later published as O Clouds, Unfold!.[2]

Professional life and activism

As president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters, Ueland advocated for women's suffrage. Ueland is known for having argued "Minnesota denies the vote to criminals, lunatics, idiots, and women. Is this chivalry?"[3] Ueland was president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) from 1914 to 1920. With ratification of the 19th amendment, the MWSA became the Minnesota League of Women Voters and Ueland served as its first president.[4]

Ueland travelled to Connecticut in 1920 as part of the "Emergency Suffrage Corps'" to protest Governor Marcus H. Holcomb's refusal to call a special session to ratify the suffrage amendment.[5] In 1921, she was appointed chair of the Minneapolis fundraising committee for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.[6] She was presented the pen that Minnesota Governor Joseph A. A. Burnquist used when signing the presidential suffrage bill.[7] In 1925, Ueland criticized Republican foreign policy and "back-door" cooperation with the League of Nations, saying "We have got to spread the gospel among the women, telling them that they are paying too much for cotton and woolen goods, for aluminumware and that the country cannot recover from hard times unless we reduce the tariff."[8]

Ueland taught kindergarten in her home and worked to establish kindergartens in the schools of Minneapolis.[9]

Death

She died after being struck by a truck as she was crossing the street near her home on March 1, 1927.[10]

References
  1. Smedsrud, Hilary Kapfer (April 1990). "In the beginning: Cottage City was the 19th century predecessor of Linden Hills". The Southwest Journal.
  2. Ueland, Brenda (2004). O Clouds, Unfold!: Clara Ueland and her family. Minneapolis, MN: Nodin Press. ISBN 978-1-9324-7202-8.
  3. Roberts, Kate (2007). Minnesota 150: The People, Places, and Things That Shape Our State. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8735-1594-8.
  4. "Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association | MNopedia". www.mnopedia.org. Minnesota Historical Society. Archived from the original on December 8, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  5. "Women plan suffrage drive in Connecticut beginning May 3". Minneapolis Sunday Tribune. April 25, 1920. p. 45. Retrieved April 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Mrs. Ueland Chairman Minneapolis Committee Wilson Foundation Fund". Minneapolis Tribune. January 10, 1921.
  7. "Mrs. Ueland is Given Pen That Signed Suffrage Bill". Minnesota Tribune.
  8. Taaffe, Lillian E. (September 11, 1925). "Women Assail World Policy of Republicans". Minneapolis Tribune.
  9. Down At The Lake: A Historical Portrait of Linden Hills and the Lake Harriet district (1st ed.). Minneapolis, Minn.: Linden Hills History Study Group. 2001. pp. 24, 91. ISBN 0-615-11882-8.
  10. "Senate expresses sorrow over loss of woman leader". Minneapolis Daily Star. March 2, 1927. Retrieved April 28, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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