Mary Louise Reed (née Case; October 20, 1930) is an American politician and environmentalist. She served as a member of the
Idaho Senate
The Idaho Senate is the upper chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 35 Senators elected to two-year terms, each representing a district of the state. The Senate meets at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.
Composition of t ...
for the 4th district from 1984 to 1996.
Early life and education
A native of
Klamath Falls, Oregon
Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...
, Reed earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...
, where she studied art history and religion. She also took graduate courses at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, the
Union Theological Seminary, and
Whitworth University
Whitworth University is a private, Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Spokane, Washington. Founded in 1890, Whitworth enrolls nearly 3,000 students and offers more than 100 graduate and undergraduate ...
.
Career
After marrying her husband, Reed lived in
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
and
Washington
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 centered on ...
before settling in
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Coeur d'Alene ( ; french: Cœur d'Alène, lit=Heart of an stitching awl, Awl ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the largest city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolita ...
. Reed founded the Coeur d’Alene’s Human Rights Education Institute and worked as an activist in the
Idaho Panhandle
The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shosh ...
region. In 1975, she advocated for the passage of the Local Land Use Planning Act. Reed is a founder of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance and Idaho Conservation League, along with her husband, an environmental lawyer.
In 1984, Reed was elected to the
Idaho Senate
The Idaho Senate is the upper chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 35 Senators elected to two-year terms, each representing a district of the state. The Senate meets at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.
Composition of t ...
. Representing the 4th district, Reed served for 12 years before her retirement.
Personal life
Reed has two children, including political advisor
Bruce Reed.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Mary Lou
Living people
1930 births
Democratic Party Idaho state senators
People from Klamath Falls, Oregon
Mills College alumni
People from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Women state legislators in Idaho