New memorial honors first women voters; local historian

Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer

The ratification of the 19th amendment of the United States Constitution a little over a hundred years ago undeniably plunged American society into a new era. The change gave women the right to vote, and the first to do so were from none other than South St. Paul. To honor those 90 women who made history on Aug. 27, 1920, a memorial is being placed at Fred Lawshe Park, 207 3rd Ave. N., the site of the original city hall where they cast their votes. An unveiling ceremony will take place 11 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Aug. 24. It will be followed by a luncheon at the Dakota County Historical Society (DCHS) located across the street. Registration is required to attend the luncheon. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at dakotahistory.org.

The memorial will be the first to recognize the historic vote in the city. It was designed by historical society staff and is similar in style to signage found along park trails. It is a plaque and grounded in cement. Funding for the approximately $3,500 project came entirely from donations collected by First Presbyterian Church and the historical society. Proceeds from the luncheon will support future maintenance of the memorial. The South St. Paul Garden Club will donate and plant yellow roses and white marguerite daisies in the park’s flower beds. Yellow roses represent suffrage and white marguerites were chosen because they share a name with the first woman to vote, Marguerite Newburg.

The memorial will include a brief paragraph about how the late Lois Glewwe made many efforts to ensure that the community understood the significance of the historic event. Glewwe was deeply rooted in the community. She was a local historian, former South St. Paul city councilperson, South St. Paul Centennial coordinator, author of “South St. Paul: A Centennial” and longtime contributor to the South St. Paul Voice. Following her death in February 2023, the City of St. Paul received a handful of inquiries about how to honor her and eventually formed a committee to determine the best way to do so. It consisted of DCHS executive director Matthew Carter, First Presbyterian Church office administrator Eleta Pierce, South St. Paul Garden Club member Carol Mladek, Glewwe’s niece LouAnn Goossens, local photographer Ryan Sanford and City of South St. Paul community affairs liaison Deb Griffith.

It’s worth noting that South St. Paul city staff did, in fact, request funds through a state bonding bill in 2019 for the creation of a monument recognizing the 100th anniversary of the vote, but no funding came through. Plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary in 2020 were cancelled due to the pandemic. For more information about the memorial unveiling ceremony, visit fpcssp.org.

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