Carrie Thomas Alexander-Bahrenberg (March 4, 1861 - November 24, 1929) was a member of the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
board of trustees and a Republican civic and political activist.
Personal
She was born as Caroline Thomas in
Belleville, Illinois
Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...
, on March 4, 1861, the daughter of John Thomas of Virginia and Magdalena Von Ave of Switzerland.
[Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947]
/ref>[Robert C. Fietsam, Judy Belleville, Jack Le Chien, and Robert L. Arndt, ''Belleville 1914-1914,'' Arcadia Press, (get date)]
/ref>
She was graduated from Monticello Seminary
Monticello Seminary (also Monticello Female Seminary), founded in 1835, was an American seminary, junior college and academy in Godfrey, Illinois. The campus was the oldest female seminary in the west, before it closed in 1971. The buildings are n ...
, Godfrey, Illinois
Godfrey is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,982 at the 2010 census. Godfrey is located within the Riverbend portion of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
Geography
Godfrey is located at (38.948097 ...
, in 1880 as class valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
, at which event she gave an address on "The Differential and Integral Calculus." She also spoke in June 1913 at the 75th anniversary celebration of the founding of the seminary and at a reunion
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* Class reunion
* Family reunion
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* Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean
* Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...
luncheon in June 1915.
Her first husband was Daniel P. or Henry Alexander, who died in 1887.[
Married to William Bahrenberg, a physician, she lived in ]Belleville, Illinois
Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...
.[ In 1909 she was living in ]Belvidere, Illinois
Belvidere is a city in Boone County, settled on the Kishwaukee River in far northern Illinois, United States. Known as the 'City of Murals', Belvidere is home to several public art installations throughout the North and South State Street histo ...
.["Woman Controls Street Railway," ''Daily East Oregonian,'' November 6, 1909, image 6]]
She died on November 24, 1929, in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, and was buried in Valhalla Cemetery
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Sites
* the Arrowcave – The former base of operations of the Green Arrow and Speedy.
* Avernus Cemetery – A burial ground located in Central City for t ...
in St. Louis County.[
]
Business activities
Upon the 1887 death of her first husband, Mrs. Bahrenberg took over the management of the St. Louis, Belleville & Suburban street railway system in Delhi, Illinois
Delhi () is an unincorporated community in Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located about five miles southeast of Jerseyville and about seven miles northwest of Godfrey along US Highway 67.
History
Delhi was originally called Lurt ...
, a suburb of St. Louis. In an address to the Chicago Woman's Club The Chicago Woman's Club was formed in 1876 by women in Chicago who were interested in "self and social improvement." The club was notable for creating educational opportunities in the Chicago region and helped create the first juvenile court in th ...
in November 1909 titled "Woman's Ability to Do Man's Work,"[ she said:
]My former husband barely had started the road . . . when his death forced me to take up the work. For five years, I managed every detail, leading in the work of clearing away snow blockades early in the winter mornings.
Civic activities
University of Illinois
Known as Mrs. Carrie A.-Bahrenberg or Carrie Alexander-Bahrenburg, she was a member of the board of trustees of the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
from either 1898 or 1900 to 1912.[Marguerite Martyn, "Belleville Business Woman In Hard Fight for State Office," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' October 26, 1912, image 3]
/ref>["Sample of Women's Official Ballot to Be Voted On in Macon County, Illinois, Tuesday, November 5, 1912," ''Decatur Herald,'' November 2, 1912, image 7]
/ref>
Alexander-Bahrenburg said that she "gladly" gave time to serving on the board, "where the average man with others depending on him possibly could not be so free. It is my belief that this board should always include a woman. The law is lax upon the subject, stating only that a woman 'may' serve. Therefore the woman member should be the one who is willing to fight and hold her ground."[
She said she did not work for the other candidates on the Republican ticket because "there is no use in being interested in the offices I am not permitted to vote for."][
In 1912, Illinois women were allowed to cast ballots only for University of Illinois trustees, not for any other candidates in any state or national election.
Alexander-Bahrenberg was noted for her years of "outspoken disagreement" with university President ]Edward J. James
Edward is an English language, English given name. It is derived from the Old English, Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements ''wikt:ead#Old English, ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and ''wikt:weard#Old English, weard'' "gua ...
, with "her colleagues on the board, and ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
other partisans of the University."[
Nevertheless, she said she held no animosity for James, and she even entertained him and his wife "lavishly" in her home. "But when it comes to business, I know neither friend nor foe," she said.][
She was instrumental in defeating a legislative appropriation for a veterinary sciences department at the university. "Since that time," according to one newspaper account, "the university administration and President Abbott of the trustees" worked against her reelection.]["Hard Fight Promised," ''The Pantagraph,'' Bloomington, Illinois, April 19, 1912, image 10]
/ref>
In 1912, she faced opposition in the Republican state convention in Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
from Mrs. Emmons Blaine, daughter of Medill McCormick
Joseph Medill McCormick (May 16, 1877 – February 25, 1925) was part of the McCormick family of businessmen and politicians in Chicago. After working for some time and becoming part owner of the ''Chicago Tribune,'' which his maternal grandfath ...
, proprietor of the Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
.[
She was, however, nominated for reelection "despite the combined opposition of the Chicago Women's Club, the Alumni Association and Illini of the University, numbering 5 00 students, which endorsed so powerful a candidate as Mrs. Emmons Blaine."][
During her campaign, she said:
]I know the faculty does not want me on the board. My endorsement consists chiefly of the votes of the people which have given me the biggest majorities ever attained by a political candidate in Illinois. I think I am the woman for the position because of unique financial training. I was owner and director of the street railway system of Belleville after the death of my first husband, Dr. Alexander. I took in money by the nickels and spent it by the thousands.
Alexander-Bahrenberg lost the election.
Other
She spoke at the 44th anniversary of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association in October 1912 in Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...
. She said that suffrage could not be won by a national political party because it was strictly a matter for the states to decide.
Mrs. Bahrenberg was a member of the Equal Suffrage Society of Moline, Illinois
Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...
, in October 1912.
She was a delegate to a convention of the National American Woman's Suffrage Association
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
in 1913.
A leader in the Illinois division of the Woman's Relief Corps
The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) is a charitable organization in the United States, originally founded as the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1883. The organization was designed to assist the GAR and p ...
, the auxiliary of the Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...
veterans' organization, she was elected national secretary of the corps in 1915. The other candidates were Isabel Worrell Ball of Washington, D.C., Lois Knauff of Ohio and Lue Steward Wardworth of Massachusetts."Campaign for W.R.C. Presidency Lively," ''The Washington Times,'' September 28, 1915, page 4
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander-Bahrenberg
1861 births
1929 deaths
Businesspeople from Illinois
People from Belleville, Illinois
Illinois Republicans
Leaders of the University of Illinois
Women in Illinois politics
Women heads of universities and colleges