May Tower Bigelow

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May Tower Bigelow (April 13, 1866 - October 28, 1935) was an artist, lawyer, physician and state legislator serving in the Colorado House of Representatives 1919 session.

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Biography

She was born April 13, 1866, in St. Charles, Minnesota. [1] [2] She studied at Nebraska State University and Radcliffe College. [3]

After her education she started teaching, then progressed to be a mathematics instructor at the Nebraska State Normal College, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney. [4] She then went on to study law and pass the Nebraska bar. [4]

She was an artist and made illustrations for a medical publication. [2] [5]

She married Charles Wesley Bigelow an educator and banker, [6] [4] on May 16, 1891, [1] and they had four children together and moved to Denver. [2]

Both her and her husband then went to Harvard University for postgraduate work, before going to Europe to study first in England then on to study medicine in the University of Munich in Germany. [2] [4] They returned to Colorado and she completed her study at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and obtained her doctor of medicine degree in June 1915. [4]

Political career

She was one of two women to run to serve in the Colorado House of Representatives in 1918 on the Republican ticket along with Mabel Ruth Baker. [7] [8] Both Bigelow and Baker won seats in the house for the session starting on January 1, 1919, with another woman Agnes Riddle serving in the state senate in the same session. [9] [10] She was a Republican and represented the Denver district in the house. [2] In a special session of the legislature held on December 8, 1919, a resolution put forth by these three women legislators sought to ratify the Federal Suffrage Amendment that would then go on to be the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. [11]

In 1920 she also ran in the Republican Primary for the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction but lost to Katherine L. Craig who received 67.7% of the vote. [12]

Her final attempt at political office was to run for Mayor of Denver in 1927 but she was unsuccessful. [13] [14]

Murder accusation and death

When not pursuing politics she ran a medical practice [13] and run health clinics. [15] [16]

In May 1935 she was accused of doing an illegal operation that resulted in the death of Ella Lea Moynahan the young wife of legislator James Moynahan from the 29th general assembly. [6] [4]

Bigelow died October 28, 1935, from a blood clot on the brain, she was survived by her husband and three of her children. [17] Her husband blamed the continued worry over the unresolved murder changes for quickening her death, a charge that Bigelow had strongly denied. [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 Downs, Winfield Scott (1934). "Encyclopedia of American Biography: New Series".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Stone, Wilbur Fiske (1918). "History of Colorado".
  3. ↑ "The Harvard University Catalogue". 1901. pp. 185–187.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Murder Is Charge To Mrs Biglow (part 2)". The Daily Sentinel. 24 May 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. ↑ "Annals of Ophthalmology". 1917.
  6. 1 2 "Murder Is Charge To Mrs Biglow (part 1)". The Daily Sentinel. 24 May 1935. p. 1. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  7. ↑ "May T. Bigelow and Mabel Ruth Baker run for office". The Denver Star. 26 October 1918. p. 2. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  8. ↑ "The Republican Ticket (Advert)". The Denver Star. 19 October 1918. p. 2. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  9. ↑ "Cole Elected Speaker - The 1919 Legislature". The Elk Mountain Pilot. 9 January 1919. p. 2. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  10. ↑ Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan B.; Gage, Matilda; Blatch, Harriot Stanton; Harper, Ida H. (9 March 2017). The Suffragettes – Complete History of the Movement (6 Volumes in One Edition): The Battle for the Equal Rights: 1848-1922 (Including Letters, Newspaper Articles, Conference Reports, Speeches, Court Transcripts & Decisions). E-artnow. ISBN   9788026874768.
  11. ↑ The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume VI, by Ida Husted Harper. pp. 65–66. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "State of Colorado Elections Database » Candidate: May T. Bigelow". State of Colorado Elections Database. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  13. 1 2 "Two Women Get Into Race for Denver Mayor". Fort Collins Coloradoan. 5 April 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  14. ↑ "Dr. May Bigelow Of Denver Dies". Fort Collins Coloradoan. 28 October 1935. p. 1. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  15. ↑ "Health Clinic Held". Fort Collins Coloradoan. 16 September 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  16. ↑ "Health clinic". The Daily Sentinel. 15 September 1926. p. 5. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  17. 1 2 "Noted Denver Woman Passed Away Today: Dr. May Tower Bigelow". The Daily Sentinel. 28 October 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 3 September 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
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