Women Who Ran: 

Frances (Fannie) H. Turner (1854–1932)

In 1891, Christian Reform minister Benjamin F. Brinkman, swept to victory in the Ward 12 Grand Rapids School Board race, decisively defeating his opponent, “Mrs. Harry Turner,” 349 to 3. Who was the woman who put herself forward and dared to face off against a well-known local pastor? “Mrs. Harry Turner” was, in fact, Frances (Fannie) H. Turner, a prominent local club woman. She was actively in involved in the Daughters of Rebekah, an auxiliary to the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows at the state and local levels. She also served as an officer of the South End Ladies Literary Club and was president of its successor, the Grand Rapids Woman’s Club, from 1901-1902. Interestingly, Turner was also trained as a chiropractor. After the sudden death of her husband Henry A. (Harry) Turner in 1912, advertisements for her business appeared in the Grand Rapids Press and in the Omaha Herald, where she had extended visits with her daughter in her later years.

“Women’s Clubs,” Grand Rapids Herald, 20 May, 1900.

Turner’s motivation for running for school board is not clear, but it is likely she was influenced by (if not part of) a movement by local women who had recently won school board franchise and were working to seat women on the school board. H. Margaret Downs and Effie Van Valkenburg, who like Turner, were members of the South End Ladies Literary Club, also ran unsuccessfully for the Grand Rapids school board in 1892. Turner’s interest in civic welfare was shared by her husband, Henry, who ran for school board unsuccessfully in 1902.

Sources

“Advertisement.” Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, Michigan), February 25, 1914: 17.

“Advertisement,” Omaha World-Herald, January 1, 1919.

“Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992”, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFXZ-
L56 : 13 January 2020), Sarah Fanny Hassler in entry for Henry S. or A. Turner, 1876.

“Libraries, Scientific Institute, School Societies and Ladies’ Literary Clubs.” In History of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, edited by Albert Baxter, 246-253. Grand Rapids, MI: Munsell, 1891.

“Odd Fellows in Session,” Jackson Daily Citizen, 17 October, 1894

R. L. Polk and Co.’s Grand Rapids City Directory 1889. Grand Rapids: R. L. Polk and Co., Publishers, 1891.

“Seen and Heard in Clubland,” Grand Rapids Press, 16 May 1903.

“Women’s Clubs Plans for the Year,” Grand Rapids Herald, 1 October 1899.

“Women’s Clubs,” Grand Rapids Herald, 20 May, 1900.

“Was a Good Vote: Much Interest Shown in the School Election.” Grand Rapids Herald, September 6, 1892.