From collection Candidates
Edna Snell was the Republican candidate for County Superintendent of Schools in Mahaska County, Iowa, 1871. Snell gave stump speeches across the county during her campaign. She faced other male Republican candidates for the nomination, but was successful in receiving the party nomination. She probably did not win the race. As an early female graduate of Grinnell College and the assistant principal of Dubuque High School, Snell was well known in the area. Snell was a suffrage activist in Iowa and one of the women who signed an early petition. It may be that Snell's Quaker religious beliefs were raised during the campaign. She later married, but continued her work in education in California.
