Laura Freele Osborn
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Laura Freele Osborn (née Laura A. Freele; 1866-1955) was a suffragist, campaigner for school reform, and long-serving School Board member in Detroit, Michigan in the early half of the 20th century.
She was born and raised in Huntington, Indiana. She taught school in Huntington until her marriage in 1891 to Francis C. Osborn a businessman and inventer of Detroit.
She as first elected to the Detroit School Board, campaigning on a platform of reform. She was the first woman elected to citywide office in Detroit. She served on the School Board for 38 years, until her death in 1955. During that time she was selected as School Board president 7 times. She is credited with numerous innovations and was known for her support of teachers.
Laura Osborn also played a role in developing Wayne State University in the mid 1930s.
She is also credited with having mobilized women in to the cause of school reform and temperance, and also to have "broken the prejudice against women officeholders in Detroit."
Laura Osborn also ran unsuccessfully for City Council two times.
The Osborn High School in Detroit, which was built in the early 1960s, was named after her.
She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.
[edit] Sources
- Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame, Laura Freele Osborn
- Detroit News Feature entitled "Michigan Women's Hall of Fame," 1928 (no relation to the current Hall of Fame).
- Beckwith, Jamie, "Pewabic tile fountains display beauty, historical significance," The South End, April 21, 2005
