From collection Candidates
![Porter, Maria S.](https://cdn1.historyit.com/iiif/2/5edfd98ccc4f69.54593064/65428dc980c977.99155819.png/full/360,/0/default.jpg?no_errors=1)
Maria S. Porter was elected to the School Board of Melrose, Masschusetts in 1874. Melrose was a friend of author Louisa May Alcott. On her election Alcott wrote to Porter recommending that one of her first actions as a member of the school committee would be to reduce the salary of the local headmaster and raise the salary of his female assistant. Melrose was a member of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association.