From collection Candidates
Harriet W. Sewall was elected to the School Board of Melrose, Massachusetts. She was first elected to the Board in 1874, one year after Massachusetts had passed a law allowing women to serve in school offices. Sewall and her husband were anti-slavery activists, and later leaders in the woman rights movement. In the 1880sSewall would sign a petition sent to the Massachusetts legislature asking that women be granted municipal suffrage. She served as an officer of the state suffrage association.
