Meder, Leonora Z.

Leonora Z. Meder ran for Mayor of Chicago in 1919. The New York Times reported her as saying, "There is no reason why a woman cannot govern the second largest city in the United States. Can you name one of the candidates who has thrown his hate into the ring who is better qualified than I?" She was the former City Commissioner of Public Welfare, an office to which she was appointed in 1914. She was outspoken against early contraception and abortion movements, and in 1934, the Reading Eagle newspaper quoted her as saying, "I am active in club and professional work myself, but I see the error of my ways. If I were as good a cook as I am a lawyer, I'd own Chicago. Well, it's back to the spinning wheel for women now. And back to the kitchen. That's where women belong. Getting the vote didn't do women any good--they still vote as their husbands tell them."