Mary Carroll Craig Bradford (August 10, 1856 – January 15, 1938) of Colorado 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 ...
. She later became the
Colorado State Superintendent of Public Instruction
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that is responsible for education. It is headquartered in Denver.Brooklyn, New York, daughter of Anna Turk Carroll and James Barnes Craig. She was educated at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, with supplemental private instruction.
Career
Bradford began teaching as a young married woman in
Leadville, Colorado
The City of 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, Colorad ...
. She also taught in Colorado Springs and in Denver 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 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.