The Doctor for the School Board
Dr. Sarah Kendall, a physician and product of the public schools, mounts a groundbreaking bid for the school board in 1892.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
To the Editor: Will you kindly give space for a few lines regarding the coming election for school directors on Saturday, November 5? In the excitement of a national election, the needs of the public schools are likely to be lost sight of. It is with pleasure I learn that two independent candidates, Mr. A. W. Hastie and Dr. Sarah Kendall, have been indorsed by several of the leading clubs of the city. Dr. Sarah Kendall is a well-known practicing physician in our midst, and if elected would bring a new and much-needed element into the board, her profession qualifying her to aid in bringing about many needed improvements in the sanitary conditions now existing in the schools. She is herself a product of the public schools, having been educated in the public schools of Maine. After a business course she rose to the position of head bookkeeper in one of the oldest wholesale houses of Boston. Later, she chose the profession of medicine, graduating with honors. Her career in Seattle is an open book. It may not be generally known that women have a right to vote at this important election, but this being their privilege, we earnestly hope that every woman, and especially every mother, will cast a vote for the good of the schools and the welfare of her children.
“Her career in Seattle is an open book. It is an excellent illustration of a self-made woman.”
In 1892, women had recently regained the right to vote in Washington territory, and candidates like Dr. Sarah Kendall were essential in establishing women's role in civic governance. Her focus on school sanitary conditions foreshadows the modern struggle to address aging, unhealthy school infrastructure.
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