Jennifer A. Stewart is an American teacher and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. She serves as a Democratic member for the 59th district of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected ...

. Before taking office, Stewart was a high school teacher at

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. It was founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, and is one of the oldest prepara ...

Early life

Stewart was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, and attended Catholic school for her primary and secondary education. She attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and has a master's degree in political science.

Career

Following university, Stewart and her fiancé Benjamin moved to Massachusetts so he could attend the

Northeastern University School of Law Northeastern University School of Law (NUSL) is the law school of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded as an evening program to meet the needs of its local community, NUSL is nationally recognized for its cooperative legal ...

. While in Massachusetts, Stewart began teaching at a high school in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. The two eventually moved to Rhode Island where Ben was raised. While living in Rhode Island, Stewart taught political science at

. She was honored with the U.S. Presidential Scholars Teacher Recognition Award in 2011 and received the Fulbright Distinguished Award for Teaching in 2018. With her Fulbright award, Stewart spent a semester abroad in Finland to learn about the Finnish education system. Upon choosing to campaign for the

, Stewart began putting up political signs more than 30 days before the election. As such, she unintentionally broke a local law prohibiting such actions. The

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

of Rhode Island sued the city on her behalf, arguing that durational limits on the posting of political signs were unconstitutional. The city settled with Stewart and another political candidate and agreed to pay attorneys’ fees and compensatory damages. Stewart was eventually elected for the 59th district of the

. As a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, Stewart also serves on the House Health and Human Services Committee, the House Innovation, Internet and Technology Committee, and the Special Legislative Study Commission to Evaluate and Provide Recommendations on Mandated Safety Protocols for Rhode Island Schools.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Jennifer Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Educators from Chicago Politicians from Chicago Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians University of Chicago alumni