Julia Addington

American politician

Julia Addington
Julia Addington in a photo published in 1911.

Superintendent of Schools for Mitchell County, Iowa
In office 1869 – 1871 (retired)

Personal details
Born	June 13, 1829 New York
Died	September 21, 1875 (aged 46) Stacyville, Iowa
Political party	Bolter
Parent(s)	William. H. Addington Sr. Alvira Potter

Julia C. Addington (June 13, 1829 – September 21, 1875) was an American elected official in Iowa. 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.^[1]^[2]

Life

Addington was the daughter of William. H. Addington Sr. and Alvira Potter. She was born in New York state.^[3] She came to Iowa from Wisconsin 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.^[4] During her time in office, 17 new schools were built. She retired for health reasons in 1871.^[2]^[3]

Addington died at home in Stacyville at the age of 46.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Death Notice". Ackley Enterprise. November 5, 1875.
^ ^a ^b Mullenbach, Cheryl (Fall 2007). "The Election of Julia Addington, An Accidental Milestone in Iowa Politics" (PDF). Iowa Heritage Illustrated. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-23. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
^ ^a ^b "Julia C. Addington". Iowa Women's Hall of Fame. Iowa Department of Human Rights.
^ Kenney, Sally J (Winter 2010). "Julia C. Addington from Staceyville, Iowa: First Woman elected to public office in the United States? The World?" (PDF). Women/Politics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-08-05.

Iowa Women's Hall of Fame

1970s

1975	Amelia Bloomer Carrie Chapman Catt Ola Babcock Miller Annie Turner Wittenmyer
1976	Susan Glaspell Cora Bussey Hillis Agnes Samuelson Ruth Buxton Sayre
1977	Jessie Binford Jessie Field Shambaugh Ida B. Wise Smith Mary Louise Smith
1978	Jacqueline Day Dorothy Houghton Carolyn Pendray Ruth Suckow
1979	Minnette Doderer Mabel Lee Mary Jane Odell Louise Rosenfeld

1980s

1980	Rosa Cunningham Mary Grefe Arabella Mansfield Catherine G. Williams
1981	Mary Newbury Adams Roxanne Conlin Mary Garst Louise Rosenfield Noun
1982	Peg Stair Anderson Ruth Bluford Anderson Pearl Hogrefe Jeanne Montgomery Smith
1983	Virginia Bedell Evelyn K. Scott Davis Beverly Beth George Everett Helen LeBaron Hilton
1984	Fannie R. Buchanan Mary Frances Clarke Mary Louise Petersen Edith Rose Murphy Sackett
1985	Gladys B. Black Edna Griffin Anna B. Lawther Alice Van Wert Murray
1986	Marguerite Esters Cothorn Willie Stevenson Glanton Jessie M. Parker Dorothy Schramm
1987	Jolly Ann Horton Davidson Gwendolyn Wilson Fowler Lou Henry Hoover Nellie Walker
1988	A.Lillian Edmunds Twila Parker Lummer Marilyn O. Murphy Patricia Clare Sullivan
1989	Nancy Maria Hil Georgia Rogers Sievers Ruth Wildman Swenson Cristine Swanson Wilson

1990s

1990	Mary Jane Coggeshall Betty Jean Furgerson Merle Wilna Fleming Glenda Gates Riley
1991	Mabel Lossing Jones Mary Louisa Duncan Putnam Marilyn E. Staples Lois Hattery Tiffany
1992	Virginia Harper Helen Brown Henderson Eve Schmoll Rubenstein Mary Beaumont Welch
1993	Julia Faltinson Anderson Mamie Eisenhower Phebe Sudlow Jean Adeline Morgan Wanatee
1994	Mildred Benson Lois Eichacker Gertrude Rush Evelyne Jobe Villines
1995	Sue M. Wilson Brown Mary E. Domingues Campos Gertrude Dieken Rowena Edson Stevens
1996	Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret Meridel Le Sueur Janette Stevenson Murray Mary E. Wood
1997	Charlotte Hughes Bruner Peg Mullen Beulah E. Webb Annie Nowlin Savery
1998	Bess Streeter Aldrich Janice Ann Beran Lynn G. Cutler Maude Esther White
1999	Mary Jaylene Berg Rosa Maria Escudé de Findlay Helen Navran Stein Elaine Szymoniak

2000s

2000	Betty Jean Walker Clark Denise O'Brien Adeline Morrison Swain Margaret Boeye Swanson
2001	Ursula Delworth Phyllis Propp Fowle Phyllis Josephine Hughes Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno
2002	Bonnie Campbell Sue Ellen Follon Alice Yost Jordan Shirley Ruedy
2003	Diana L. Findley May E. Francis Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones Margaret Mary Toomey
2004	Joy Corning Mary Ann Evans Ruth Cole Nash Sally Pederson
2005	Johnie Wright Hammond Brenda LaBlanc Susan Schechter Jo Ann Zimmerman
2006	Jeannette Eyerly Christine Grant Dorothy Marion Bouleris Paul Margaret Wragg Sloss
2007	Ruth Ann Gaines Emma J. Harvat Ada Hayden Connie Wimer
2008	Joan Urenn Axel Barbara Moorman Boatwright Hualing Nieh Engle Marilyn A. Russell
2009	Linda K. Kerber Mary Kramer Adeline Lavonne McCormick-Ohnemus Lyn Stinson

2010s

2010	Julia Addington Mary Lundby Ruby L. Sutton Charese Yanney
2011	Nancy Dunkel Jacqueline Easley McGhee Charlotte Bowers Nelson Mildred Hope Fisher Wood
2012	Judith A. Conlin Teresa Marie Hernandez
2013	Deborah Ann Turner Barbara Marie Mack Patty Judge Mary Louise Sconiers Chapman
2014	Renee Hardman Mary O'Keefe Maggie Tinsman Christie Vilsack
2015	Joyce Boone Chapman Michelle D. Johnson Linda K. Neuman Marsha Ternus
2016	Grace Amemiya Angela Connolly Michele Devlin Viola Gibson
2017	Jane Boyd Joni Ernst Christine Hensley Kim Reynolds
2018	Dianne G. Bystrom Ruth Harkin Jean Y. Jew Peggy Whitson
2019	Ruth B. Klotz Mona Kadel Martin Ione Genevieve Shadduck Florine Mary Schulte Swanson

2020s

2020	Mark Cady Betty Jean Dillavou Durden Ann Fry Jorgensen Helen Miller Mary Elizabeth Young Bear
2021	Cornelia Clarke (Iowa) Jan Mitchell (Iowa) Donna Reed Roxann Marie Ryan
2022	Elizabeth Bates Cowles Mary Elaine Richards Laurie Schipper Mary Swander