Clara Hampson Ueland (October 10, 1860 – March 1, 1927) was an American community activist and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

. She was the first president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters and worked to advance public welfare legislation.

Early life

Clara Hampson was born on October 10, 1860, in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, to parents Eliza Osborn and Henry Oscar Hampson.

Career and political activism

As president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters, Ueland advocated for women's suffrage. Ueland is known for having made the argument, "Minnesota denies the vote to criminals, lunatics, idiots, and women. Is this chivalry?" Ueland was president of the

Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association The Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) operated from 1881 to 1920. The organization was part of the broader women's suffrage in the United States, women's suffrage movement in the United States and it sought to secure the right of women to ...

(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. 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. In 1921, she was appointed chair of the Minneapolis fundraising committee for the

Woodrow Wilson Foundation The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1921, organized under the laws of New York, for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals" via periodic grants to worthy groups and individuals. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the chai ...

. She was presented the pen that Minnesota Governor

Joseph A. A. Burnquist Joseph Alfred Arner Burnquist (July 21, 1879 – January 12, 1961) was an American attorney and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician in Minnesota. He served in the Minnesota State Legislature from 1909 to 1911, was elected t ...

used when signing the presidential suffrage bill. In 1925, Ueland criticized Republican foreign policy and "back-door" cooperation with the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, 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." Ueland taught kindergarten in her home and worked to establish kindergartens in the schools of Minneapolis.

Personal life and death

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 Bde Maka Ska ( , previously named Lake Calhoun) is the largest lake in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and part of the city's Chain of Lakes. Surrounded by city park land and circled by bike and walking trails, it is popular for many outd ...

in 1891. She was the mother of writer Brenda Ueland, who wrote a biography of her later published as ''O Clouds, Unfold!''. She died after being struck by a truck driver as she was crossing the street near her home on March 1, 1927.

References

External links

Interview with Barbara Stuhler
author of ''Gentle Warriors: Clara Ueland and the Minnesota Struggle for Women Suffrage'', ''NORTHERN LIGHTS Minnesota Author Interview'' TV Series #358 (1996) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ueland, Clara 1860 births 1927 deaths Suffragists from Minnesota People from Akron, Ohio Activists from Minneapolis Road incident deaths in Minnesota Activists from Ohio Pedestrian road incident deaths Members of the League of Women Voters