HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 Issue 3 - Renton's Lady VotersLittle Giant of the
Eastside currently on
Exhibit at RHM.
President’s Report
by Stefanie McIrvin,
President.
Collections Report
by Sarah Samson.
Collection Manager.
Museum Report
by Elizabeth P.
Stewart, Director.
The earliest women settlers in Washington State
began lobbying for full citizenship rights—the right
to serve on juries, the right to hold property, and
especially the right to vote—as soon as they chocked the
wheels of their wagons. After a tantalizing false start in
the 1880s—in which women got the right to vote in 1883
but had it invalidated by the Territorial Supreme Court in
1887—women finally won the vote on November 8, 1910,
when male voters overwhelmingly ratified the women’s
suffrage amendment to the state constitution.1
Renton women were ready. A mere two weeks
after the amendment was signed by the governor,
Rentonite Mary Wilson was the first woman to cast a
vote. The 41-year old wife of bricklayer and plasterer
Robert H. Wilson, she was the very first of a reported
fifty “maids and matrons” in Renton voting on whether
the city should form Waterway District #1. She continued
to be politically active; in 1922 she was elected the
Director of School District No. 52 at Coalfield.2
Also In This Issue...
RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM
Fall
September 2014
Volume 45
Number 3
Continued on page 5
2 4 83
Captain Burrows Summer
and Winter Pleasure Resort,
view looking north into
Lake Washington, ca. 1900-
1910. (RHM# 1990.085.3048)
tv
QUARTERLY
RENTON’S LADY VOTERS
by Elizabeth P. Stewart
2 | R E NTON H ISTORY MUSEUM
N E WCASTLE: L I TTLE G I ANT O F
T HE E A STSIDE
The Renton History Museum joins forces with the Newcastle Historical Society to present a
history of our coal mining neighbor to the North. By the late 1890s, coal mining had made
Newcastle the second largest town in King County, second only to Seattle. Pacific Coast Coal
Company put its mark on Newcastle in ways that Renton never experienced. When the company
left Newcastle after a miners’ strike, many Newcastle residents moved to Renton. Come learn about
how different neighboring coal mining towns can be in this fascinating look at another Eastside city.
From
SEPTEMBER
9
To
F EBRUARY
7
MUSEUM ASSESSMENT
PROGRAM UPDATE
In August we completed
step two of our Museum
Assessment Program
(MAP) on Community
Engagement: the site visit.
Melissa Prycer, Executive
Director of the Dallas
Heritage Village, visited
Renton on August 6th and
7th and met with Museum
staff, board, volunteers,
and members of the
community at large to
talk about the Museum’s
unique obstacles to fully
engaging with the people
of Renton. Melissa came
armed with a thorough
WHY NOT CONSIDER
VOLUNTEERING?
The Museum is actively
seeking more Greeters, so
if you’ve ever considered
volunteering, now would
be a great time. Greeters
work in pairs on Saturdays
for three-hour shifts
(10:00 am-1:00 pm or 1:00
pm-4:00 pm) to open the
Museum, greet visitors
and take admissions, and
close the Museum. It is
a fun and easy way to
get more involved, and
it only takes an hour of
training to get started!
It’s a great opportunity
to catch up with a friend,
get community service
hours, and work on your
people skills by interacting
with our friendly visitors.
Contact Colleen at
clenahan@rentonwa.gov
or 425-255-2330 for more
information.
self-study workbook that
a team of stakeholders
compiled during June and
July. Step three of the
process will be a written
report outlining things
we can do to improve our
community engagement.
Little Giant of the EastsideNEWCASTLE
F A LL QU ARTERLY , 2014 | 3
MUSEUM REPORT
QUARTERLY
Fall 2014
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Director
During Renton River Days, over 350 people came
through the Museum. In each temporary exhibit we
create, we try to have a “talk back” area where visitors
can contribute to the exhibit or comment. During that weekend
someone posted this drawing. The sun shines on two stick
figures, one of whom is using a gun to kill the other. “I’m Not
Skyler,” the caption declares in childlike printing.
You can speculate on whether the shooter or the victim
has been mistaken for Skyler, but either way, the disturbing
point is that this child used the Museum’s comment area to
call attention to a case of mistaken identity with which he (or
she) was personally familiar. This child took the time to make
this little graffiti, caption it, and stick in to our board, without a
parent noticing and questioning; Museum staff were probably
the only adults who saw what might have been a cry for help in
a space where he or she felt safe making it.
Less than a week later, I attended “Restoring Peace
in Our Community,” a West Hill Community Association
public meeting about a rash of summer crime, gangs, and
violence. (West Hill comprises the eight unincorporated
neighborhoods on Renton’s West Hill—Earlington, Bryn
Mawr, Lakeridge, Skyway, Campbell Hill, Panorama View,
Skycrest, and Hilltop—the children of which mostly attend
Renton schools.) Over 100 concerned adults shared ideas
about how to restore pride and make their neighborhoods safer.
Inevitably the subject of youth came up, and parents, ministers,
businesspeople, and Sheriff’s Deputies compared notes about
ways to keep kids healthy, busy, and, most of all, hopeful.
I described our collaborative exhibits with Renton
High students—some of whom live on West Hill—and
offered it as one example for inculcating a sense of pride and
community identity in kids, using history. We know from
students’ feedback that the project helps them contextualize
their own challenging experiences; through research and
writing they discover that they are part of something bigger: a
community with a history and a unique identity.
This summer has been rife with national examples
of kids in need, whether they’re coming across the border to
escape drug gangs, or fearful of their next confrontation with
an authority figure. One small museum cannot have the answer
for the desperate situations in which many kids find themselves,
but this note from “Not Skyler” reminds us that our mission as
a community heritage institution requires that we at least try to
help those who are reaching out to us.
by Elizabeth P. Stewart,
Museum Director
Talk back drawing “I’m Not
Skyler.”
RENTON HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Sarah Samson
Graphic Design & Layout
Karl Hurst
City of Renton Print &
Mail Services
RENTON HISTORICAL
SOCIETY BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Stefanie McIrvin, President
Meris Mullaley, Vice President
Laura Clawson, Treasurer
Elizabeth P. Stewart, Secretary
Susie Bressan, 2015
Sandra Meyer, 2015
Amy Rayl, 2016
Alice Stenstrom, 2016
Lisa Wivag, 2016
Theresa Clymer, 2017
Kim Sweet, 2017
Vicki Jo Utterstrom, 2017
Rich Zwicker, 2017
Terri Briere, City Liaison
MUSEUM STAFF
Elizabeth P. Stewart
Museum Director
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
Colleen Lenahan
Visitor Experience
Coordinator
Laurie Lent
Office Aide
Pearl Jacobson
Volunteer Registrar
RENTON
HISTORY MUSEUM
235 MILL AVE. S
RENTON, WA 98057
P (425) 255-2330
F (425) 255-1570
HOURS:
Tuesday - Saturday
10:00am - 4:00pm
ADMISSION:
$3 (Adult)
$1 (Child)
West Hill Community
Association public meeting.
For more information about
West Hill, go to www.
MyWestHill.org.
The Museum’s teen advisory
council, RenTeens, is actively
recruiting for its next session.
See their work at http://
renteens.tumblr.com.
4 | R ENTON H I STORY MU SEUM
I’d like to introduce myself to you as the incoming
President of the Renton Historical Society Board of
Trustees. While I am originally from Eastern Washington,
I have lived in Renton for many years and am proud to call it
home. My husband and I recently welcomed our first child in
March and I can’t think of a better place to raise our daughter!
This year marks my third year as a Trustee and I am
very excited to be taking on this leadership position. Prior
to becoming President, I sat on the Museum Membership
Committee and was chair of the Board Development
Committee. While on those committees I worked to
restructure our membership fees to be more inclusive of all
income levels and helped to reorganize our Board committees
to better serve the Museum and the community. These
positive changes are the foundation for the Board to continue
to do good work. Over the next year my goal is to work with
the Board and Museum staff to identify more fundraising
opportunities and build a core network of supporters.
Throughout my time on the Board I have enjoyed
getting to know our members and volunteering at various
events throughout the city. I recently spent time at the
Museum booth at Renton River Days; every year I am
impressed not only by the dedication of our volunteers and
Museum staff (we couldn’t do it without them!), but also by
the support of the greater community of our mission.
Another thing that I love about being a Trustee?
Taking part in the ever-changing, exciting new exhibits at
the Museum. So far my favorites have been the Pioneers,
Professionals & Politicians: Groundbreaking Women From
Renton’s Past and, of course, the Bigfoot is Probably Real
exhibit! I hope that you have enjoyed them too and have fond
memories of your favorites as well.
We have a lot of exciting events and volunteer
opportunities coming up. If you haven’t already, please save
October 15, 2014 on your calendar as our Annual Museum
Dinner Auction! It’s sure to be a hauntingly good time. Hope
to see you there!
Stefanie McIrvin
President
UPCOMING
EVENTS
NEWCASTLE: LITTLE
GIANT OF THE EASTSIDE
OPENING
S eptember 9
5:30-7:30pm
Join us to celebrate the
collaboration between the
Newcastle Historical Society
and the Renton History
Museum on this exhibit that
traces our neighbor’s history.
President McIrvin presenting
the Custer Award at the 2013
Renton Historical Society
Annual Meeting.
The Renton Historical Society’s
booth at Renton River Days.
ANNUAL DINNER AND
SILENT AUCTION
O ctober 15
5:30-9:00pm
Join us for a delicious dinner,
fabulous auction items, a
dessert dash, and fun with your
history-minded friends and
neighbors. Entertainment by
Jazz Horn.
TALES THAT GO BUMP IN
THE NIGHT
O ctober 25
11:00am-12:00pm
To celebrate Halloween,
storyteller Anne Rutherford
presents songs and stories at the
Museum. For a family audience.
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
by Stefanie McIrvin, President
F ALL Q U ARTERLY , 2014 | 5
The Renton History Museum is lucky enough
to hold several of the earliest records of Renton women
voting: primary voter registration books for the Socialist
and the Citizens Parties in the 1912 and 1913 elections,
and registers for the 1913 and 1915 general elections.3
Comparing these voter records with biographical sources
provides a group picture of Renton’s earliest female
voters. For them, the polling booth was probably the
logical culmination of years of discussing issues and
preparing to play a stronger role in civic life. That
preparation paid off, with women exercising a significant
role in Renton’s political life as soon as they got the vote.
Although “there was [sic] practically no serious contests”
in 1913, for example, the turn-out among women resulted
in “a large vote [being] polled” nevertheless.4
In December 1913 the Renton Bulletin celebrated
the fact that the election was the first to use “lady election
officers.” Catherine Dinning, Rinnie Nichols, Margaret
Nichols, Mary Jane Rees, Lydia Trent, and June Hancock
all served as election judges, with Jennie Isackson, Mrs.
R. H. Hunt, Theresa Oehm, Alice A. Davis, and Maggie
Continued from page 1
This 1910 parade down
Renton’s Main Street was led
by woman suffragists in white.
(RHM# 1966.001.0209)
Cover: page from the 1912 Citizens
Party voter registration book.
Women voters are highlighted.
(RHM# 2002.053.006)
RENTON’S LADY VOTERS
6 | RE NTON H ISTORY M USEUM
Harner working as election clerks. The newspaper
reported that “the ladies performed their duties in the
most commendable and satisfactory manner.”5
Drawn as they were from Renton’s professional
class, these women did their work “accurately and
without a hitch.” Maggie Harner, for example, was the
wife of the Assistant City Engineer, Garfield Harner,
and Catherine Dinning was the widow of coal mine
inspector William D. Dinning. Some were undoubtedly
selected for their own skills rather than their family
connections, however; 23-year old Jennie Isackson was a
librarian-in-training and 26-year old Theresa Oehm was a
stenographer at a wholesale paper company in Seattle.6
The older judges and clerks—like 32-year old
Alice Davis, 37-year old Rinnie Nichols, and 49-year
old Mary Jane Rees—came out of the ranks of Renton’s
women’s sororities and civic groups. Mary Jane Rees,
for example, was active in the local Nesika chapter of
the Order of the Eastern Star, as well as the Columbine
Rebekah Lodge of the International Order of the Odd
Fellows (I.O.O.F.) and the Renton Baptist Church. Rinnie
Jennie Isackson’s training as a
librarian made her well-qualified
to serve as an election clerk in
1913. (RHM# 1985.058.10830)
Organizations like the Order of the Eastern Star, Nesika Chapter #54 were training grounds for women’s
civic involvement. Six of these fifteen women were voters: Matilda Gunn (front row, 1st on left), Jeanette
Mulligan (4th from left), Susan Jane McKinley (middle row, center), Rachel Edwards (middle row, far
right), Mattie Bevan (back row, 2nd from left), and Melissa Ticknor (4th from left).
FA LL QUARTERLY, 2014 | 7
Nichols and Alice Davis were also Eastern Star members,
with Nichols active in Holly Camp No. 3359 of the
Royal Neighbors of America and Davis a member of the
Women’s Benefit Association and the Hospital Guild.7
Both the Nesika Chapter (Eastern Star) and the
Rebekahs were founded in Renton in 1899, when Renton
was a city of less than 500 people.8 These female chapters
of male lodges served the same function for women that
they did for men: they provided leadership opportunities,
training in organizational skills and teamwork, and a way
to improve the community. For women, involvement in
these organizations was particularly important, because
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries most did not
have the same career access that men did. For many
women, serving as a lodge or sorority member was a
chance to exchange serious ideas with their peers—about
politics, perhaps, but certainly about the direction of their
community—and to join with others to take action.
Among the 58 early women voters listed in
our books for whom we have biographical details,
twenty-nine (50%) were members of Eastern Star,
Pythian Sisters, Rebekahs, the Washington State and/
or King County Pioneers Associations, and/or active in
various churches.9 Minnie Belle Custer Thomas (later
Henehan), for example, was elected President of the King
County Pioneers Association later in life. The daughter
of Renton pioneers Charles S. and Susan Jane Custer,
Minnie Belle’s family had been prominent in the city
since 1881. Indeed, many of the women’s club members
who were voters in 1912 and 1913 also represented
Renton’s pioneering families: Janet McNaught Faull,
Ella Beanblossom, Susan Jane and Florence Custer, Jane
Duff, Lizzie Dobson, and Margaret and Jane Storey.
Nannie Evans is another example of Renton’s
leading women who voted. Nannie went to the polls
in 1912 with her boarder, teacher Clara Blondé, and
her daughter-in-law, Edith Evans. Nannie’s husband,
Harold Evans, had been buying and selling real estate
in the Renton area for some years, and by 1910 he had
helped found Citizens Bank.10 But, at age 50, Nannie had
also accomplished many things on her own. In addition
Continued on page 9
Early women voters were well represented among the faculty of the Central School in 1911– 1912.
Voters were Clara Blondé (front row, 4th from left), Kate Bassen (2nd row, 1st on left), Elizabeth Ferguson
(back row, 3rd from left), Martha Groat (back row, 2nd from right), and Florence Guitteau (back row, far
right). (RHM# 1966.087.0512)
8 | R E NTON H ISTORY MUSEUM
E ighteen years ago Renton
played host to a leg of the 1996
Atlanta Summer Olympics
Torch Relay. On May 8th the Olympic
flame made its way to Renton from
Seattle. The route through Renton was
a short one. Beginning at the train
depot at 4th and Burnett, the torch
traveled north on Burnett and then
east on 3rd past the Museum onto Mill.
It continued on to Bronson and then
onto Highway 169 out of town.
Local businesses opened early for the 6:30am
relay, with some providing the spectators with coffee
and donuts. Businesses also decorated for the event,
displaying 8 ft. long banners advertising the relay and
Renton. Three of those banners, displayed during the
relay at the Renton Flower Shop, are now part of the
Museum’s collection, donated by Toni Nelson.
The relay featured three Rentonites as
torchbearers: Renton Senior Activity Center volunteer
Shirley Wasser, Seafirst Bank employee Amy Jahn,
and Renton High School senior Chau Troung. Plans
changed quickly the morning of the relay though when
one torchbearer did not show up. Brandon Kindle, the
13-year-old grandson of Mayor Jesse Tanner, stepped
COLLECTION
REPORT
by Sarah Samson,
Collection Manager
Sarah Samson
Collection Manager
1996 Atlanta Olympic Torch Relay banners from Renton (RHM#2014.018)
in and got the opportunity of a lifetime to be an
Olympic torchbearer.
Renton’s part in the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay
lasted just one morning, but the Relay itself stretched
from April to July. The Olympic flame arrived in
Los Angeles from Greece and from there, it took a
meandering path up the West Coast, and across the
West through Utah and Colorado. In Kansas it headed
south to Louisiana and then turned north and went
all the way up to Minneapolis. The torch then passed
through Chicago and Detroit before heading to the
Northeast. It traveled down the East Coast and then
over to Tennessee and down into Alabama. After a
quick trip down Florida to Miami, the flame finally
finished its trek in Atlanta. Muhammad Ali, the final
torchbearer, sent the flame into the cauldron where it
burned for the duration of the games.1
We are thrilled to have a small piece of the
history of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics here
at the Museum. These three banners are now safely
housed in the Museum’s collection and serve as
evidence of Renton’s participation in this global event.
Torchbearer Brandon Kindle on his leg of the relay (RHM# 1999.006.12054)
ENDNOTES
1 “Torches and Torch Relays of the Olympic Summer Games from Berlin 1936 to
London 2012,” Olympic Studies Centre, p.61.
FA LL Q UARTERLY, 2014 | 9
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
May 1, 2014 - August 15, 2014
Homer Dolan
Betty Sipila
Mary Tarella Fasevich
Mario & Victor Tonda
Donald Frodsham
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Kenneth Guy Lent III
Laurie Lent
Rita McLendon
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Dennis Waltner
George & Frances Subic
Robert Wicks
Donald & Carmel Camerini
Wendell & Cleo Forgaard
Donald & Pearl Jacobson
Bob & Roberta Logue
Lucy Miller
John & Marsha Nissen
Shirley Phinney
Wayne & Janet Wicks
MEMORIAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
Kenneth A. Baker
Connie J. Baker
Pete Delaurenti - RHS Class
of ‘56
Gene & Linda Aitken
Maxine Gamba
Dorlene Bressan
Tom & LoRayne Kerr
Connie J. Baker
Marilyn Phillips Lansciardi
Sonny & Marilyn Ford
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
Sandra Burkey
Jeffrey Conner
Lisa Cooper
Margaret Feaster
Dorothy Finley
Jean G. Hobart
Pauline Kirkman
Claudette Lorimor
Tom & Linda Morris
David & Julia Pickett
George Poff
Steve Sellers
Basil & Ellie Simpson
Nick & Irene Tonkin
Robert & Josephine Wixom
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $100 OR MORE
Dorlene E. Bressan
Mack & Jane Gossett
Denis Law
Andy Sparks
Kim & Gregory Sweet
GENERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $500 OR MORE
Ila Hemm
ENDOWMENT
CONTRIBUTIONS
OF $500 OR MORE
Ernest Milton Swanson Bequest
IN-KIND
DONATIONS
Patricia Carroll
Kevin McQuiller
Don Persson
George Stahl
Wil Samson Design
NEW
MEMBERSHIPS
Patricia M. Carlson
Lisa Cooper
Dr. Herbert Hoover
BENEFACTOR
MEMBERSHIPS
McLendon Hardware
Continued from page 7
PATRON
MEMBERSHIPS
Justin G. Hansen
GIFT MEMBERSHIP
DONORS
Irma Iles
to raising four children, she was a charter member of
the Columbine Rebekah Lodge, and she was active in
the Nesika Lodge and the Washington State Pioneer
Association. After her husband’s death in 1934 she would
continue developing downtown properties. Described
at her death as “an indomitable figure of wifehood,
motherhood and citizenship,” she was an example to
other women.11
Nannie’s husband, Harold, had served as a
councilmember under Renton’s first Mayor, Abijah
Beach; many of the other new women voters also had
political connections through their husbands. Melissa
Ticknor’s husband, Benjamin, had just completed a
term as Mayor in 1911 and Ellen Smithers’ husband,
Fred, was Mayor in 1912. Jessie Ticknor’s husband, Al,
was City Clerk in 1910, and Grace Williams’ husband,
Sidney, had served as City Attorney from 1901 to 1908.
Other voters had husbands or sons who would go on to
serve in the future: Mary Baxter, the mother of Mayor
Joseph R. Baxter (1949 – 1960); Ella Beanblossom, the
wife of Mayor George Beanblossom (1939 – 1943);
Nannie Evans was “an
indomitable figure of wifehood,
motherhood and citizenship.”
(RHM# 1987.058.2529)
10 | R ENTON H I STORY M U SEUM
and Mary Fuller and Janet Faull, the wives of future
councilmembers. Emma Dullahant was a 1913 voter and
a 1928 Noble Grand in the Rebekahs, but her daughter
Eleanor Dullahant (later Fortson) was too young to vote.
Eleanor would be elected to the Washington State House
of Representatives for the 10th District in 1972, 1974,
and 1976.12
But one voter in particular went on to develop
her own political career, albeit brief. Hattie Butler voted
in the 1913 election in Renton, and by 1918 she was
elected as Renton’s first female councilmember, and, it
turned out, the first woman councilmember in the state.
It must have been her “deep social consciousness” that
encouraged women voters to put her and Gertrude Feek
on the ballot as independent candidates; Butler was
reportedly surprised to learn that she had won a seat. She
took her seat with the other councilmembers in January
1919 and apparently served one unremarkable term. She
and her husband were later active in union affairs.13
Florence Guitteau called
Election Day “one of the most
satisfactory moments of my
life.” (RHM# 1997.080.7912)
Hattie M. Butler, elected Renton’s
first female Councilmember in
1918, and her husband, James, ca.
1890. (RHM# 1997.099.0291)
In November 1914 the much-anticipated
Prohibition vote was finally on the state ballot, in
the form of Initiative No. 3, an initiative to ban the
manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. “How
will the women vote be cast on this question is one of
the puzzles of politics this year,” the Renton Bulletin
observed. “Unquestionable [sic] the carrying of the
measure depends upon the women vote.”14 Although
we have no record of how the women of Renton voted,
Florence Guitteau probably spoke for many when she
recorded in her diary, “Election day—and one of the
most satisfactory moments of my life when I put X for
prohibition. It may not carry this time, but I know it will
some day.”15 When Prohibition passed in 1914, women
began to truly understand their power as voting citizens.
ENDNOTES
1 T. A. Larson, “The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Washington,” Pacific Northwest
Quarterly 67 (April 1976), 49 -62. The University of Washington created an excellent
online exhibit about the state’s women suffrage movement, A Ballot for the Ladies:
Washington Women’s Struggle for the Vote (1850 – 1910), on their web site at http://
content.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/suffrage/, accessed 25 July 2014.
2 “First Woman to Cast Vote In State of Washington,” Seattle Daily Times, 11
December 1910, p.1; “City News,” Renton Bulletin, 5 May 1922, p. 4.
3 These voter rolls are: “Primary Election Poll Book and Tally Sheet Of the Citizens
Party / Renton 2nd Ward Precinct, / State of Washington / Election Held on the 5 day
of Nov 1912,” Renton History Museum #2002.053.006; “Primary Election Poll Book
and Tally Sheet Of the Socialist Party / [Renton] 1st Precinct, / State of Washington /
Election Held on the 5 day of Nov 1912,” Renton History Museum #2002.053.005;
“Poll Book of a General Election held on the 2 day of December, [1913], Renton
Precinct, Ward 1, County of King, State of Washington,” Renton History Museum
#1994.008.001; “Poll Book of a General Election held on the 7th day of December,
1915, Renton Precinct, Ward 1, County of King, State of Washington,” Renton
History Museum #1994.008.002.
4 Renton Bulletin, 5 December 1913, p.1.
5 “Lady Election Officers,” Renton Bulletin, 5 December 1913, p.1.
6 “Lady Election Officers,” Renton Bulletin, 5 December 1913, p.1.
7 “Mary J. Rees, Renton Pioneer, Taken by Death,” Renton Chronicle, ca. 13 September
1937; “Mrs. Alice Davis Dies in Issaquah,” Renton Chronicle, 21 November 1962.
8 Morda C. Slauson, Renton, From Coal to Jets (revised edition, Renton, WA: Olympic
Reprographics for Renton Historical Society, 1976, 2006), 112-113.
9 This reflects those women for whom we have any biographical information, from
obituaries, early newspapers, census and other records, oral histories, and family
reminiscences, all of which served as sources for this article. We regret that we have
no biographical information for 52 of the 170 women in the three poll books.
10 Besides Clara Blondé, other teachers who voted in Renton’s earliest elections were:
Kathryn Bassen, Elizabeth Ferguson, Martha Groat, and Katherine McCraig.
11 “Primary Election Poll Book and Tally Sheet Of the Citizens Party, 1912,” Renton
History Museum #2002.053.006; Dan B. McGovern, “Many Friends Pay Tribute to
the Life of Mrs. N. Evans,” Renton Chronicle, 15 April 1948.
12 “Eleanor Fortson Dies; Ex-Legislator was 93,” Seattle Times, 13 October 1997.
13 “The Annual City Election,” Renton Bulletin, 6 December 1918, p.1; “New Council
Takes Office,” Renton Bulletin, 10 January 1919, p.1; “First Woman Councilman
Dies,” Renton News Record, 19 October 1939, p.1. The headline for the January 1919
article in the Bulletin observed that “Mrs. Butler Qualifies” for office as if there was
some doubt, but gave no further details. Other notable Renton political women were
absent from the 1912 and 1913 records, however. Agnes Norby Richmond began her
political career by serving on Renton’s Library Board; she became City Attorney in
1925 after earning her law degree. Agnes Edwards started her career in government
service in 1923 under the mentorship of Paul Houser Jr.; she went on to serve as the
city’s first woman Treasurer until 1927, and then became the Renton’s first female
City Clerk.
14 “How Will the Women Vote,” Renton Bulletin, 23 October 1914, p.1.
15 Florence Guitteau Diary, 3 November 1914, p.289 (RHM# 2014.023.002).
F ALL Q U ARTERLY , 2014 | 11
Get your tickets now for the Annual Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction on Wednesday,
October 15, 2014 at the Renton Senior Activity Center. The event will feature fabulous
silent auction items, delicious meal, dessert dash, and entertainment provided by
Jazz Horn. Please support the Renton History Museum by celebrating Renton’s past and
promising future! Tickets are $40 per person or $300 for a table of eight. Call the Museum at
425.255.2330 to reserve your space now or order online at www.brownpapertickets.com.
Renton Historical Society
235 Mill Avenue South
Renton, WA 98057
Phone: 425.255.2330
Fax: 425.255.1570
Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov
rentonwa.gov/rentonhistorymuseum
Renton Historical Society
235 Mill Avenue South
Renton, WA 98057
Phone: 425.255.2330
Fax: 425.255.1570
Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov
rentonwa.gov/rentonhistorymuseum
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7 TH A N NUAL R E NTON H ISTORICAL
S O CIETY B E NEFIT DI NNER A ND
S I LENT AU CTION
On
O CTOBER
15
at
6:00 PM
RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM
235 Mill Ave. S
Renton, WA 98057
IN HINDSIGHT...
Pacific Coast Coal Company at the Ford Slope Mine in Newcastle, ca. 1922. (Photo courtesy of Joe & Tami Micheletti.)