Anna C. Petteys (1892–1970) was an American education activist, newspaper woman, lecturer and politician in the mid-20th century. She was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 2008. Born in 1892, she moved to

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 ...

in 1914 where she married Loronzo Petteys, with whom she had four children. After her son died in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, she set up a scholarship at

Northeastern Junior College Northeastern Junior College (NJC) is a public community college in Sterling, Colorado. It is a member college of the Colorado Community College System. In 2021 Colorado legislators and college administrators considered changing the college nam ...

; originally a two-year scholarship for one person, it is now given to eleven young men each year. Her philanthropic work extended to include hospitals, libraries, women's shelters, volunteer fire departments, and much more, throughout most of northeastern Colorado. In 1950 she won the first of three elections to the

Colorado State Board of Education The Colorado State Board of Education is a government body in the U.S. state of Colorado tasked with "general supervision of public schools." It is composed of members elected from districts corresponding to Colorado's congressional districts � ...

, serving as chairwoman for her last four years. Catching the attention of the White House, she was appointed to the Committee for Special Education and the Committee on Education for Migrant Children. She was also active in the

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 ...

, first having been selected to attend the United Nations Charter Convention in

San Francisco 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 ...

, and later on appointment to the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

; it was during this time that she developed a relationship with Madame Chiang Kai-shek. With her son she opened up two newspapers, as well as a radio station, to serve northeastern Colorado. In 1999, furnishings for the groundbreaking of a student center at

Morgan Community College Morgan Community College (MCC) is a community college in Fort Morgan, Colorado Fort Morgan is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Morgan County, Colorado, United States. The city po ...

were provided by the Jack Petteys Memorial Foundation of Brush in memorial to Anna Petteys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petteys, Anna 1892 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians Activists from Colorado Women in Colorado politics