Mary Carroll Craig Bradford (August 10, 1856 – January 15, 1938) was an American educator and administrator for public education from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. She was the first female delegate at the

1908 Democratic National Convention The 1908 Democratic National Convention took place from July 7 to July 10, 1908, at Denver Auditorium Arena in Denver, Colorado. The event is widely considered a significant part of Denver's political and social history. The convention The 1 ...

and later became the Colorado State Superintendent of Public Instruction, attaining national prominence through the work in her office.

Early life and education

Mary Carroll Craig was born on August 10, 1856, in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, daughter of Anna Turk Carroll and James Barnes Craig. She was educated at the

Packer Collegiate Institute The Packer Collegiate Institute is an independent college preparatory school for students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Formerly the Brooklyn Female Academy, Packer has been located at 170 Joralemon Street in the historic district of ...

in Brooklyn, with supplemental private instruction.

Career

Bradford began teaching as a young married woman in

Leadville, Colorado Leadville ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, Lak ...

. She also taught in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

and in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

before moving into administrative positions, as superintendent in Adams County in 1902, and in Denver in 1908. She was elected to the Colorado state superintendency in 1913, and served six terms in that office, until 1927. Bradford was active in the movement for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in Colorado, as president of the Colorado Springs Equal Suffrage Association in 1893. After suffrage was won, she helped organize the Colorado Women's Democratic Club, and ran for State Superintendent of Education in 1894 (she lost to another woman, Anjanette J. Peavey). Bradford was a charter member of the Denver Women's Club and president of the Colorado Federation of Women's Clubs. She was also president of the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

Personal life

She married Edward Taylor Bradford in 1876, and the pair had four children. She was widowed in 1901, and died in 1938, age 71.Heather Kleinpeter Caldwell, "Mary Carroll Craig Bradford: Providing Opportunities to Colorado's Women and Children through Suffrage and Education" (PhD dissertation, Texas A&M University, 2009)
p. 2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Mary C.C. 1856 births 1938 deaths Suffragists from Colorado Educators from Colorado Presidents of the National Education Association Colorado Democrats