Frances Sevilla Cleveland Axtell (June 12, 1866 – May 27, 1953) was one of the first female legislators in the United States of America, elected to the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

in 1912.

Early life

Cleveland was born to William and Mary Cleveland on June 12, 1866. From Sterling, Illinois, Cleveland's father was a farmer and stock-raiser.

Personal life

Cleveland married Dr. William Axtell on June 11, 1891. The couple had two daughters, Ruth Axtell (born September 28, 1892) and Helen Frances Axtell (born July 23, 1901). Axtell earned a PhD at

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, before moving to Bellingham, Washington.

Career

Running on the Republican ticket, Axtell was elected to the 54th District of the

representing Bellingham in 1912. She was an advocate for a minimum-wage, the banning of child labor, workers' compensation, and pensions for the elderly, disabled, and widows. She also helped change aspects of criminal law, especially violent assault. She nearly became a U.S. Senator in 1916 losing by about three thousand votes. Her relationship with her brother Frederick Cleveland, who worked in the administration of President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

, coupled with the publicity surrounding her 1916 attempt as a senator, brought her to the attention of President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. On January 5, 1917, President Wilson appointed her to the Federal Employees' Compensation Commission.

Death

Frances Axtell died on May 27, 1953 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

References

External links

* http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=9625
(National Women's History Museum – Women Wielding Power: Pioneer Female State Legislators)
* http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/learnabouttheta/whatistheta/notable_thetas.cfm?notableThetaId=44 * http://www.kappaalphatheta.org/iamatheta/notablethetas/index.cfm
(Full text: "Minimum Wage Board. Wednesday, April 17, 1918)
* * http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1918-05-02/ed-1/seq-20/;words=Axtell 1866 births 1953 deaths Women in Washington (state) politics DePaul University alumni 19th-century American women politicians 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians History of women in Washington (state) People from Sterling, Illinois Women state legislators in Washington (state) {{Washington-politician-stub