From collection Candidates
In 1874 Kate Gannett Wells --reformer, philanthropist, writer-- was elected to a one year term for 1875 on the Boston School Committee. She actively opposed woman suffrage, arguing that women were too busy for politics and voting. She believed that women should engage in moral reform and education work after fulfilling their domestic obligations. Wells founded and led the New England Women's Club, the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, the Moral Education Association, and the the Association for the Advancement of Women among other groups. She served as an officer in several of these organizations. In 1888 Wells was appointed to the first of three eight-year terms on the Massachusetts State Board of Education. In 1884 Wells testified against woman suffrage at the Massachusetts state legislature. She "looked to a non-political, altruistic, and service-minded womanhood as the antidote to society's ills." (Huth) In 1863 Wells married attorney Samuel Wells, Jr. who later became a minister. Kate Wells would have liked to enter the ministry. The couple had three children. Thwarted in her desire to be a minister, like many of the male members of her family, Wells found release for her ambitions in her reform work. (Huth)
