Julia B. Nelson (1842-1914):
Julia B. Nelson, a well-known woman suffrage and temperance activist of Goodhue County, Minnesota, originally from Connecticut, was nominated in 1894 for the office of county superintendent and, again, in 1896 for the position of superintendent of schools.
 
Party Affiliation:
Populist/People’s
 
Photograph:
Several photographs of Nelson are available from the Minnesota Historical Society:
 
Resources:
“On the Eve of Election,”Woman’s Journal (November 10, 1894), pp. 353-54.
 
Anne J. Aby (ed) The North Star State: A Minnesota History Reader (pages 230 ff), [Google books]
 
Julia Wiech Lief, “A Woman of Purpose: Julia B. Nelson,” Minnesota History 47 (Winter 1981).
 
Julia B. Nelson Collection, Minnesota Historical Society.
 
Julia B. Nelson, William H. Richards: A Remarkable Life of a Remarkable Man . Copy at the Minnesota Historical Society.
 
“Julia Bullard Nelson,” The Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/NN/fnecu.html
 
Additional Notes :
Nelson attended Hamline University and was the first person in Goodhue County to receive a first-grade teaching certificate. She married in 1866 but was widowed three years later, months after the death, also, of her nine month old son. She was young and sought to give purpose to her life after this tragedy by teaching newly freed blacks under the auspices of the American Missionary Association of New York (an organization that worked closely with the Freedman’s Bureau). She also lectured for suffrage and temperance. In 1881 she helped to form the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association. In 1886 Nelson addressed the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on the question of woman’s right to vote and to equal wages for equal work. Early in the twentieth century she edited the Minnesota White Ribbon, a temperance newspaper.

---

Back to Home Page