The Story of Mabeth Hurd Paige

First Woman Legislator in the Minnesota House Of Representatives

More rights for women! More women in political arenas! In a time when women had little rights and could not even vote, Mabeth Hurd Paige rose to the challenge of helping change the place of women in United States society. As one of the first women ever elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, Paige helped to swing open the political doors for the women of Minnesota, allowing them to have more control over their rights.
The Early Years The Political Doors Open for Paige No Time For Retirement Heroes Honors

The Early Years
Mabeth Hurd was born in Massachusetts in 1870. By the time she was a young woman she had observed the discrimination against women in politics and public life. Having received her art degree in Boston, she took a position teaching art in the Minneapolis public schools. It is there she met her future husband, James Paige. James Paige was a law professor at the University of Minnesota and encouraged Paige to study law. This she did with enthusiasm. The year of 1895 proved to be a turning point in Paige’s life. In June she and James were married, and in the fall she enrolled in the University of Minnesota Law school as Mabeth Hurd Paige. Within seven years after her marriage, Paige had earned her law degree and had a baby girl. As her daughter grew up, Paige began to make many friends through her daughter's school activities. These friends would later be instrumental in her political career. In the meantime, Paige’s home life was rather hectic. She and James had moved in with James’ family where there was always an argument brewing. Due to her rather distressing home life, Paige turned her energies towards helping others. She began joining and organizing groups, focusing on those groups whose goals were to help women.

The Political Doors Open for Paige
Marching Women In 1919 Paige became an activist in the women's suffrage movement. Women suffragettes from across the United States were coming together in an effort to win women the right to vote. Paige’s involvement did not go unnoticed in the movement, and when high profile speakers came to Minneapolis, Paige was asked to be in charge of all the arrangements. In 1920, after women won the right to vote, Paige was elected to the League of Women Voters as regional organizational chairman for seven states. While she spent much of her time encouraging women to enter politics, she
was one day asked why she didn’t run herself. It didn’t take much to convince her, and in 1922, at fifty two years of age, she became a candidate for the state House of Representatives. This was the beginning a long political career. After being elected as a legislator in 1922, she quickly observed how little the men in politics paid attention to areas such as Welfare and education. Therefore she took on these projects and others like them in an effort to increase women’s and children’s rights.

Paige's accomplishments were many during her long legislative life. She set in motion and helped pass many bills that improved the quality of life of the people of Minnesota. Her efforts were not restricted to the people and social problems within the twin cities, but she was instrumental in affecting the lives of Minnesotans throughout the state. For example, she was also concerned about the environment. Having enjoyed canoeing in northern Minnesota with her husband, Paige fought to preserve the area by strongly opposing a plan to flood what is now the Superior National Forest.

No Time for Retirement

In 1944, after serving the people of Minnesota for twenty two years, Paige decided not to seek reelection. Although she was in her seventies and no longer a legislator she was far from retired. She continued her work for a better community and remained an active member of many committees. Throughout her lifetime she never lost sight of her deep interest in women in politics. She encouraged and advised three generations of women to become more involved in the government. Although Paige influenced and assisted many women to walk in her shoes, she never felt that she was doing enough.

Heroes Honors

On August 19, 1961, at ninety-one, Mabeth Hurd Paige died. She lived a long, politically and socially active life, and inspired many people. She holds the longest service record for a women in the legislature so far. In 1949 the people of Minnesota and the Junior Chamber of Commerce showed Paige their appreciation for all her efforts by naming her as one of the Hundred Living Great Minnesotans. She was one of only eight women given the award.(D2) Her dedication and ambition are still appreciated today, and we are proud to recognize her as a Minnesota Hero.

Thank You
"We would like to thank Gretchen Kreuter and Barbara Stuhler for compiling such a comprehensive collection of information concerning the life and times of Mabeth Paige. Their work entitled Women of Minnesota Selected Biographical Essays (K1) was the main source of information used to create this article."

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