In 1892, a schoolteacher ran for office in North Dakota when women couldn't vote in most elections. She became the first woman in America elected to a statewide office position

In the late 19th century, American politics was still largely a man's world. Women in most parts of the country could not vote in ordinary elections, and the idea of a woman holding a major elected office was still unusual. But in North Dakota, a schoolteacher found a narrow opening in the law and used it to enter politics. In 1892, Laura J. Eisenhuth won an election that made her the first woman in the United States elected to a statewide office.

Her victory came almost three decades before the 19th Amendment gave women the constitutional right to vote nationwide. At the time, North Dakota allowed women to vote on school matters, which meant they could participate in the election for state superintendent of public instruction. It was a limited political right, but it gave Eisenhuth an opportunity that women in many other states did not have.

From schoolteacher to elected official

Eisenhuth was born Laura Kelly on May 29, 1859, in Blenheim, Ontario. Her family moved to Iowa when she was a child, and she later became a teacher. In 1885, she traveled to Dakota Territory and filed a claim for 160 acres near New Rockford.


She married Willis Eisenhuth in 1887 and settled in Carrington, as per Her Hat Was In The Ring. Soon afterward, the local school found itself without a teacher when its only instructor resigned. Eisenhuth agreed to take over temporarily.

The temporary job became something much bigger. She taught around 80 students in a one-room school for the entire year, and continued teaching the following year with an assistant.

Her work in education helped build her reputation. In 1889, she was elected superintendent of schools in Foster County and won another term the following year. She also conducted teacher institutes across northern North Dakota, focusing on the training and professional development of educators.

Her first statewide campaign ended in defeat

Eisenhuth first ran for state superintendent in 1890. The Democratic Party supported her, but she lost to Republican John Ogden.

Two years later, she tried again. This time she had the backing of both Democrats and Populists and faced Republican educator Joseph M. Devine.

Education was at the centre of her campaign. Eisenhuth wanted better training for teachers and improvements in the state's schools.

The election was close, but Eisenhuth won. She received 19,078 votes against Devine's 17,343, according to the historical account published by InForum.

Her victory was significant beyond North Dakota. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, Eisenhuth became the first woman in the country elected to a statewide office in a statewide election in which women were allowed to vote.

Her victory made national news

Eisenhuth took office in January 1893, and her election attracted attention well beyond the state. Some newspapers had treated the idea of a woman taking charge of a statewide department as something extraordinary.

But once she actually began her duties, there was no dramatic upheaval. As per InForum, one newspaper columnist put it this way: "There was no convulsion of nature, neither did the sun stand still, nor was there silence in heaven for even half a minute when Mrs. Laura J. Eisenhuth, the newly elected state superintendent of the public schools in North Dakota, assumed the duties of her office. All goes well ..."

Two years in office

As superintendent, Eisenhuth continued to focus on teacher education and held numerous workshops and institutes. She also wanted to build new schools and improve existing ones, although the economic downturn that began in 1893 made some of those plans difficult.

When her term ended, Eisenhuth said considerable progress had been made. She reported a 19,611-student increase in enrollment and 202 new schools constructed during her time leading the department.

Her political career, however, did not last long. In 1894, she ran for re-election but was defeated by Republican Emma F. Bates. Eisenhuth later made unsuccessful bids for the office in 1896 and 1900.

She eventually returned to teaching. After Willis Eisenhuth died in 1902, she remarried Ludwig Alming in 1907 and later moved with him to Oregon, where they operated a fruit farm.

Laura Eisenhuth died on September 30, 1937. Her 1892 election, however, remained a landmark in American political history. Long before women gained voting rights across the country, a schoolteacher in North Dakota had already crossed one of the country's biggest political barriers and won statewide office.