Mary Elizabeth Ordway (July 4, 1828 – September 11, 1897), an early advocate for women's suffrage in Washington territory, was one of the first group of young women recruited to become teachers and wives in pioneer Seattle in the 1860s. Despite the expectation that these " Mercer Girls" would marry, Ordway remained single and became a successful teacher, school administrator, and suffrage activist. The suffrage activism of Ordway and some of the other "Mercer Girls" reflected their educational levels, professional status, and the values associated with personal autonomy that promoted their decisions to migrate across the continent to build new lives.

Early life

Ordway received a good education for a woman of her time, matriculating at the Ipswich Academy in Massachusetts. She taught in Lowell Massachusetts before migrating to Washington when she was in her mid-30s.

Teaching

She taught first in schools on Whidbey Island and in the lumber communities of

Port Gamble Port Gamble is an unincorporated community on the northwestern shore of the Kitsap Peninsula in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is also a small, eponymous bay, along which the community lies, near the entrance to Hood Canal. The uninc ...

and Port Madison on the Kitsap Peninsula. She developed a reputation as the best teacher in the territory, according to author Libbie Hawker, and traveled around the area to turn around problem schools. She also launched and taught in Seattle's first dedicated school building.

Suffrage and Public Service

In 1871, Ordway appeared on stage with Susan B. Anthony in Seattle during Anthony's tour of the Northwest promoting the cause of women voting. Ordway became active in the Female Suffrage Association formed after Anthony spoke and served as a delegate to the territorial suffrage convention. Anthony formed the

Washington Territory Woman Suffrage Association Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centere ...

, a crucial vehicle for suffrage lobbying in the ensuing decades. Thereafter, Ordway returned to teaching in Kitsap County and, in 1881, became the first woman to be elected as a school superintendent in territorial Washington. She served Kitsap County in that position for eight years, solidifying her position as a builder of public schools in Washington territory.

References

External links

* Lizzie M. Ordway's death notice {{DEFAULTSORT:Ordway, Elizabeth 1829 births 1897 deaths 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators Suffragists from Washington (state) People of the Washington Territory Politicians from Seattle Schoolteachers from Washington (state) Schoolteachers from Massachusetts