Document 13:  Are We Measuring Up – In the Ramparts We Build?, 1954, compiled by Helen Virden, State Chairman, Qualified Women in Policy Making Posts, Folder: Individual Liberties/Equal Rights, Box 45, League of Women Voters of Iowa papers, Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

 

Introduction

These facts about women in government in Iowa were collected in 1954 by Helen Virden, the State Chairman of Qualified Women in Policy Making Posts.  It is most interesting, perhaps, that these figures were being gathered at all, given the obvious lack of women in governmental positions they display.  The compilation of these statistics suggests women’s organizations were both aware of and concerned with the lack of proportional representation by women in positions of governmental significance by 1954. 

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ARE WE MEASURING UP – IN THE RAMPARTS WE BUILD?

Figures don’t lie – Here are the figures on Women in Government in Iowa:

U.S. Senators	both men
Congressman	All men
State Senators	all men
State Representatives (108)	one woman
State Officials (elective)	Woman superintendent of schools
County Elective Officials	1953 Official Directory - 99 counties
Women in office	12 county auditors
	20 clerks of court
	21 County Treasurers
	51 County Recorders
	3 county home stewards
	24 County superintendents of schools
	no member board of supervisors

There are some 55 positions and boards to be appointed by the Governor.  The following have no women.  (They could not qualify for some)

Comptroller	Industrial Commissioner
Superintendent of Banking	Insurance Commissioner
Car Dispatcher	Labor Commissioner
Commissioner of Health	Public Safety Council
Accountancy Board	Aeronautics Commission
Barber Examiners	Architectural Examiners
Chiropody Examiners	Armory Board
Chiropractic Examiners	Banking Board
Dental Examiners	Board of Examiners in basic sciences
Embalmer Examiners	Medical Examiners
Board of Control	Optometry Examiners
Board of Educational Examiners	Osteopathic Examiners
Pharmacy Examiners	Employment Security Commission
State Printing Board	Board of Engineering Examiners
Real Estate Commission	State Board of Health
Soil Conservation Commission	State Highway Commission
Tax Commission	Iowa Development Commission
Commission of Uniform State Laws	Liquor Control Commission
Watchmaking Examiners	Merit System Council
World War II Service	Mine Inspectors
Compensation Board

We definitely feel that a number of women are well qualified to serve on some of these boards.

Women have Representation of the following boards:

Commission for the Blind	1 out of three
Conservation Commission	1 out of seven
Board of Education	2 out of 9
Curators - St. Historical Society	7 out of 9
Hospital Advisory Council	no record
Cosmetology Examiners	3 women
Board of Parole	1 out of 3
Nurse Examiners	5 women
Social Welfare Board	1 out of 3

The Governor appointed as his secretary a woman

Clerk of Supreme Court	a woman
Research Analyst	a woman
Secretary of State	none
Auditor of State	2 women examiners (out of about 60)
Treasurer of State	all auditors and investigators are men
Attorney General	8 - all men
Secretary of Agriculture	About 80 important appointments
	(Women not qualified for some)
	All filled by men, 1 woman
	Cashier replaced by man in 1952
Superintendent of Banking	23 major appointments all filled by men
State Tax Commission	Secretary, 6 Divisions, Offices
	Located over state, auditors,
	Inspectors, etc. all filled by men
	165 appointments

We have not included clerks, stenographers or minor appointments but only the larger boards and commissions.  For information about the “List of Employees” is available from the State Printing Board.

Many Business and Professional Women are eminently qualified for many of these appointments.  Let us all work for more Women in Government.

Helen Virden

State Chairman

Qualified Women in Policy Making Posts