Lowman, Mary D.

Mary Lowman, a teacher, re-entered public service in 1885, as the Oskaloosa, Kansas deputy register of deeds, after raising a family. Three years later the women of Oskaloosa organized to improve the town and its governance. They established an all-female ticket for town council with Lowman as the mayoralty candidate. The women were elected by a significant majority. After an Associated Press dispatch announcing the results, the women became the talk of the nation. Lowman was not the first woman mayor in Kansas, but she was the first with an all-female town council. The women inherited an empty treasury and a city in debt. They quickly enacted and enforced a Sunday closing law, aided downtown business with new sidewalks, graded and widened streets, and improved lighting. They established a town pound for stray livestock and enforced an 1880 Prohibition law. As elected officials, the women reduced the city's debt and eventually created a budget surplus. After their first, two-year term, these accomplishments won Lowman and her women council members re-election. The members of her first city council were Hannah Morse, 45; Emma Hamilton, 39; Sadie Balsley, 36; Mittie Golden, 31; and Carrie Johnson, 23. They were elected by a 3 to 1 margin. All but two of the group stood for re-election and easily won. Their good government work inspired this song: "We have a lady council and a lady mayor, too/ We are pleased with our officials and we trust 'tis so with you/ We think they all are handsome and know they are true blue/ As they go marching on!" ("Highway Heroes")