Julia C. Addington (June 13, 1829 – September 21, 1875) was an American elected official in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. She was the first woman elected to public office in Iowa, and may have been the first woman elected to public office in the United States.

Life

Addington was the daughter of William. H. Addington Sr. and Alvira Potter. She was born in New York state. She came to Iowa from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

with her family in 1863 and taught school in Cedar Falls, Waterloo, Des Moines and at the Cedar Valley Seminary in Osage. Addington was elected Superintendent of Schools for Mitchell County in 1869. She had been acting school superintendent just prior to the election, completing the term of the previous holder of that position. Addington was elected as part of the "Bolter" faction of the Republican Party, who favoured Mitchell as the county seat. She received exactly the same number of votes as Republican candidate Milton N. Browne and the election was settled by flipping a coin. Because she was a woman, her election was not universally accepted, even though the Iowa attorney general Henry O'Connor ruled that her election was legal since there was no explicit requirement in the law for a candidate to be male. During her time in office, 17 new schools were built. She retired for health reasons in 1871. Addington died at home in Stacyville at the age of 46.

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{{commons category 1829 births 1875 deaths People from Mitchell County, Iowa Educators from New York (state) County officials in Iowa School superintendents in Iowa Women in Iowa politics 19th-century American politicians Schoolteachers from Iowa 19th-century American educators Iowa Republicans 19th-century American women politicians 19th-century American women educators