From collection Candidates
Ella Weldin Johnson was a leading suffragist and community leader in Newpoort, Delaware. She was the first woman elected School Commissioner in Newport County, in 1909. Johnson served for four terms. She promoted care and education for children inside and beyond the classroom. Under her leadership funding was expanded for rural schools. In the early years of the twentieth century Johnson helped to found the Newport Equal Suffrage Club. As an officer of the Delaware State Suffrage Association she lobbyied the state legislature for support of an amendment granting women the franchise. In 1920, Johnson and others unsuccessfully worked for the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. In the 1920s Johnson served as the Newport Postmistress.
