Minnie Rutherford Fuller (, Oliver; after first marriage, Scott; after second marriage, Rutherford; after third marriage, Fuller; January 25, 1868 – October 15, 1946) was an American farmer, broker, temperance leader, suffragist, and lobbyist. She served as president of the

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

(W.C.T.U.).

Biography

Minnie Ursula Oliver was born at

Ozark, Arkansas Ozark is a city in Franklin County, Arkansas, United States and one of the county's two seats of government. The community is located along the Arkansas River in the Arkansas River Valley on the southern edge of the Ozark Mountains. As of the 2 ...

, January 25, 1868. She was educated at Sullins College,

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State S ...

(A.M). She also studied at

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, at

Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, an ...

, at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy, and at the

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

(Germany),

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Fuller was an active worker for temperance as well as for other reforms. In spite of the duties necessarily connected with her vocation of farm manager and broker, she found time to devote herself to work for the betterment of others. In 1913, she accepted the position of president of the Arkansas W.C.T.U. Before this, she had been actively engaged with the Union as organizer and speaker and in other capacities, campaigning throughout the State, besides spending time attending sessions of the Legislature, seeking to promote the passage of various reform measures. Among these were the White Slave Law, the Juvenile Court, and several Prohibition bills. Under her presidency, the State W.C.T.U. membership increased and continued to grow. As president of the State Union, she was an ex-officio vice-president of the National W.C.T.U. During the 1918-20 term of the

General Federation of Women's Clubs The General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), founded in 1890 during the Progressive Movement, is a federation of over 3,000 women's clubs in the United States which promote civic improvements through volunteer service. Many of its activities ...

, Fuller served as vice-chair of the Legislation Department. In 1921, Fuller was a member of the commission appointed by the Governor of Arkansas to make a survey of the state's school system. Owing largely to the resourcefulness and activity of Fuller, Arkansas obtained a Woman’s State Farm, State Industrial School, and its Commission of Charities and Correction. A social activist, Rutherford Fuller was one of the founders of the Political Equality League (PEL). For Fuller, women's suffrage would help the passage of the kinds of reforms and community improvement that she supported. Fuller and Olive Gatlin Leigh testified in 1911 about proposed suffrage legislation at a Committee meeting held at the Marion Hotel. Fuller was involved in the state's suffrage struggle of 1915. Rutherford-Fuller was married three times: in 1882 to O. H. Scott,

Magazine, Arkansas Magazine is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 847 at the 2010 census. The city is named for nearby Mount Magazine. 2010 State Football Champions. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the cit ...

; in 1889 to W. B. Rutherford,

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

; and in 1915 to Dr. Seabron J. Fuller. Minnie Rutherford Fuller died October 15, 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Minnie Rutherford 1868 births 1946 deaths People from Ozark, Arkansas American temperance activists Woman's Christian Temperance Union people Clubwomen American lobbyists Farmers from Arkansas Sullins College alumni Leipzig University alumni Harvard University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Suffragists from Arkansas