Helen Ring Robinson (1878-1923)
Robinson, a writer and lecturer, ran in the 1912 Democratic primary for state senate i n Colorado. She survived the primary and went on to win in the general election becoming one of the first women in the United States to hold this state office. Her policy interests were many. In an interview, Robinson said that it was “the womanly woman who was needed in politics, not a creature recreated in the image of man.” (NY Times, Nov. 23, 1913)
Party Affiliation:
Democrat
Photograph:
Found in: Representative Women of Colorado [Google Books]
Resources:
Robyn Muncy, “Women Demand Recognition: Women Candidates in Colorado’s Election of 1912,” in Gustafson, Miller, and Perry We Have Come to Stay: American Women and Political Parties, 1880-1960 (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1999).
Helen Ring Robinson, Preparing Women for Citizenship, (NY: Macmillam, 1918). [Online at Google Books]
“Women Legislators Should Be Womanly,” The New York Times (November 23, 1913).
“Mrs. Robinson Asks Facts,” The New York Times (September 25, 1915)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
While state senator, in 1913 Robinson traveled to the mining camps affected by the Ludlow strike. In testimony before the Commission on Industrial Relations she told of her visit to the tent colony “where she found a friendliness among women of all nationalities—a true melting pot at Ludlow. In this regard, the strikers not only pioneered unionism, they challenged the rampant public racism of the day.” (http://www.cobar.org/index.cfm/ID/581/dpwfp/Historical-Foreward-and-Bibliography/
In 1915 she traveled as a member of the Henry Ford Peace Ship. Earlier in her writing career, Robinson adapted Uncle Tom’s Cabin for young readers.