Van Cleve, Charlotte O.

In April 1876 Mrs. Charlotte Van Cleve was elected to a two-year term on the East Minneapolis school board, running on the Republican Party ticket. Women won the right to run for this office in Minnesota in 1875. After her nomination, the women of the city campaigned for her and helped Van Cleve achieve a majority of votes. At a meeting of women to support her nomination, Van Cleve called women "the conscience of the world," and said that men had been ashamed of some of their actions and women would show them a better way. She read from Abigail Adams' famous letter noting that "men would be tyrants, if they would," to a round of applause from the audience. Van Cleve was an officer in the Bethany Home, an organization aiding women who wished to "reform" their lives. She was also active in suffrage organizations. An writer for the Woman's Journal (Boston), believed that Van Cleve resembled Elizabeth Cady Stanton.