Ethel Edgerton Hurd (1845–1929) was a physician, a social reformer and a leader in the woman's suffrage movement in the U.S. state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. She was a founder of the Political Equality Club of Minneapolis and the Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association, and a member of the executive board 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 ...

. For her activities, she was named to the national roll of honor of the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

Early life

Ethel Edgerton was born on August 11, 1845, in Galesburg, Illinois. Her father, Solomon Everest Edgerton (born 1818 in Essex County, New York) had moved to Galesburg in 1836 and, in 1942, married Martha L. Belding. The family moved to

Woodhull, Illinois Woodhull is a village in Henry County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 754. History The town was laid out by Maxwell Woodhull on September 30, 1857. An addition was laid out in 1867, and another in 1870. That same ...

, in 1855. Ethel was the second of three daughters. Ethel was the first woman to attend Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After graduation she worked as a schoolteacher. She married Captain Tyrus I. Hurd in Woodhull on February 22, 1865. They had two children: Addie and Anna (or Annah). The Hurds moved to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in 1867 and then to

in 1897. Tyrone Hurd's sister, Lucy Adaline Hurd, was married to

William Cornelius Van Horne Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, (February 3, 1843September 11, 1915) was an American businessman, industrialist and railroad magnate who spent most of his career in Canada. He is famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian Tran ...

, president of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

Medical practice

After her husband's death, Hurd earned a medical degree from

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1897. She went into partnership with her daughter, Annah, working from an office in the Pillsbury building at 602 2nd Avenue South in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, Minnesota. Hurd was active in social organizations, serving as an officer in the Medical Woman's Club, Minneapolis Medical Society, Minnesota State Homeopathic Institute, and Social Hygiene Committee. She lectured on

social hygiene The social hygiene movement was an attempt by reformers in the late 19th and early 20th century to deal with problems that were seen to have a social background, including venereal disease, tuberculosis, alcoholism and mental illness. Social h ...

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

, and

social welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

. She stated, "Forget Shakespeare, Browning and Japan and take up the more important subject of the physical and mental welfare of the human race".

Woman suffrage

Hurd began her

suffrage 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 v ...

activities in Kansas and continued after her move to Minnesota in 1897. She edited and printed the ''Minnesota Suffrage Bulletin'' for several years.

Political Equality Club of Minneapolis

Hurd was a leader of the Political Equality Club of Minneapolis, originally called the Woman Suffrage Club of Minneapolis. The club was founded in about 1868. It was the largest suffrage group in the Minneapolis area and the longest-lived woman's club that focused on equal rights and social reform. The club often met in the homes and offices of the members, including the medical offices of Hurd and her daughter. Hurd was president of the club twice; her second term was for the last 6 years before passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, when the club disbanded. Hurd said of the passage of the amendment, "It is a great satisfaction to live to see the end of so tremendous an undertaking."

Other suffrage activities

Hurd was a member of the executive board of the

(MWSA) from 1898 to 1919, with the exception of one year. She was part of an MWSA delegation who addressed Governor J. A. Johnson in 1906 stating "We ask the right of women suffrage as a matter of simple justice. I believe that until women take their right place in the legislation of justice, men will continue to suffer thru the laws which are enacted, and women will suffer further untold disabilities." Hurd also helped form the Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association in 1907 to take advantage of the lobbying power that the group would have in a heavily Scandinavian state. Its purpose was "for the social and economic advancement and to secure for the women of the State of Minnesota and of the United States the right of suffrage". She also formed the Workers' Equal Suffrage League in 1909. Both of these groups served to broaden the base of support for woman suffrage. In 1918, Hurd published ''Woman suffrage in Minnesota : a record of the activities in its behalf since 1847''. Hurd was named posthumously to the national roll of honor of the

in 1929. A gavel given to Hurd in honor of her role was presented to the Minnesota League. The gavel came from Hurd's daughter Annah.

Death

Hurd died on August 20, 1929, in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, while visiting relatives. She was buried with her husband in

Lakewood Cemetery Lakewood Cemetery is a large private, non-sectarian, rural cemetery located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is located at 3600 Hennepin Avenue at the southern end of the Uptown, Minneapolis, Uptown area. It is noted for its chapel ...

, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Bibliography

* Hurd, Ethel Edgerton (1916)
''Woman suffrage in Minnesota : a record of the activities in its behalf since 1847''
Minneapolis: Inland Press. * Hurd, Ethel Edgerton (February 19, 1920)
"A Protectorate for Men"
''The Decatur Herald''. p. 6.

References

External links

Obituary
in the Minneapolis Star, August 21, 1929 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Ethel Edgerton 1845 births 1929 deaths History of Minnesota Suffragists from Minnesota Feminism and history Physicians from Minnesota Members of the League of Women Voters