Luella Kirkbride Drumm (June 17, 1872 – February 11, 1962) was a 20th-century American politician and
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
who was elected to the
Nevada State Legislature
The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislatur ...
in 1939. The representative for
Churchill County, she was the only woman to serve in the
Nevada Assembly
The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member district ...
that year. During her tenure, she chaired the Agriculture, Engrossment, Federal Relations, and Fish and Game committees, and advocated for legislation that improved the rights of women.
Luella K. Drumm to Seek Office
” Reno, Nevada: ''Nevada State Journal'', July 15, 1940, p. 3.[Corkill, Bunny. ]
Luella Kirkbride Drumm
” Reno, Nevada: Nevada Women’s History Project, retrieved online June 19, 2021.
One of her first accomplishments was to successfully sponsor a bill which eliminated the state requirement that married women in Nevada “use the designation ‘Mrs.’” when “
egisteringto vote under their own first names.”
[Cegavske, Barbara K. ]
Political History of Nevada (Twelfth Edition)
'. Carson City, Nevada: Office of the Nevada Secretary of State and the Research Division, Legislative Counsel Bureau, 2018.
Formative years and family
Born in
Vermont, Illinois, on June 17, 1872, Luella Kirkbride Drumm was a daughter of Andrew Briner Kirkbride (1833—1877) and Ellen Alice Randolph. On April 3, 1895, she wed Andrew Dellard Drumm (1872—1939) in Wilmington, Nebraska. They had three children: Andrew D. Drumm, Jr., Gertrude Drumm, who later wed David H. Smith, and Marguerite Drumm. After initially settling in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
where her husband was employed as an irrigation specialist, they subsequently relocated to
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...
, and then to
Goldfield, Nevada
Goldfield is an unincorporated small desert city and the county seat of Esmeralda County, Nevada.
It is the locus of the Goldfield CDP which had a resident population of 268 at the 2010 census, down from 440 in 2000. Goldfield is located ...
, before making their final move in 1906 to a farm in
Fallon, Nevada
Fallon is a city in Churchill County in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 9,327 at time of the 2020 census. Fallon is the county seat of Churchill County and is located in the Lahontan Valley.
History
The community was first populat ...
, where her husband established a thriving business in contracting. Married to Andrew Drumm, Sr. for more than four decades, Luella K. Drumm was widowed by him on March 2, 1939.
Political career and other civic activities
Initially elected to the Nevada State Legislature as a Democrat in 1939,
Assembly Resolution No. 12 (Palludan)–Memorializing the late Assemblywoman Luella Drumm
” Carson City, Nevada: Nevada State Assembly, 1963. she represented Churchill County. The only woman to serve in the Nevada Assembly that year, she successfully sponsored a bill that eliminated the state requirement that married women in Nevada “use the designation ‘Mrs.’” when “
egisteringto vote under their own first names.”
In July 1940, she announced that she would run for reelection, but she was ultimately defeated by her male Republican opponent. During her tenure, she chaired the Agriculture, Engrossment, Federal Relations, and Fish and Game committees. In the late 1940s, she was appointed by Governor
Vail Pittman
Vail Montgomery Pittman (September 17, 1880 – January 29, 1964) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 19th governor of Nevada.
Biography
Pittman was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the youngest of fou ...
to serve as a delegate to a
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
conference in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
In addition, she was an active member of the following civic and social organizations:
Session Enjoyed by Fallon Group
” Reno, Nevada: ''Nevada State Journal'', July 11, 1940, p. 7.
* Artemisia Club
* Federation of Women’s Clubs
*
Daughters of the American Revolution
* VFW Auxiliary
Preceded in death by her husband in 1939, she continued to reside in Fallon into the 1950s.
Luella Drumm
(obituary). Reno, Nevada: ''Nevada State Journal'', February 13, 1962, p. 13.
Death and interment
During her final years, Luella Drumm was a resident of the Good Luck Nursing Home in
Sparks, Nevada. She died there on February 11, 1962 at the age of 89.
Following funeral services and cremation, she was interred at the Churchill County Cemetery in Fallon.
See also
*
Timeline of women's suffrage in Nevada
This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Nevada. In 1869, Curtis J. Hillyer introduced a women's suffrage resolution in the Nevada Legislature which passed, though it would wait for another legislative session to approve a second time. The first ...
*
Women's suffrage in Nevada
Women's suffrage in Nevada began in the late 1860s. Lecturer and suffragist, Laura de Force Gordon, started giving women's suffrage speeches in the state starting in 1867. In 1869, Assemblyman Curtis J. Hillyer introduced a women's suffrage resol ...
References
External links
* Bennett. Dana Rae.
Undismayed by Any Mere Man: Women Lawmakers and Tax Policy in Nevada, 1919-1956” Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University, May 2011.
* Bennett, Dana R.
Women in the Nevada Legislature” Carson City, Nevada: Research Division, Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau, January 1995.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drumm, Luella Kirkbride
1872 births
1962 deaths
People from Vermont, Illinois
20th-century American women politicians
Members of the Nevada Assembly
Clubwomen
Burials in Nevada
20th-century American politicians