Laura Freele Osborn

Laura A. Freele Osborn (1866–1955) was a suffragist, campaigner for school reform, and long-serving member of the School Board for Detroit Public Schools in Detroit, Michigan during the early half of the 20th century.

Early life and education

She was born and raised in Huntington, Indiana.

Career

Laura F. Osborn was a prominent advocate of non-partisan school boards in Michigan, including contribution to legislation passed in 1913 and later lobbying then Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris to support this reform.^[1]

She was first elected to the Detroit School Board in 1917, 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 board president seven times. Osborn also played a role in developing Wayne State University in the mid-1930s.^[2][3]

She is also credited with having mobilized women into the cause of school reform and temperance, and also to have "broken the prejudice against women officeholders in Detroit".^[4] She also ran unsuccessfully for Detroit City Council two times.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

She taught school in Huntington until her marriage in 1891 to Francis C. Osborn, a Detroit businessman and inventor.

Legacy

• Osborn High School in Detroit, built in the late 1950s, was named in her honor.
• She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.

References

• Osborn High School
• "The Folks Behind DPS Building Names: Laura Freele-Osborn," Transporting News (Office of Student Transportation, Detroit Public Schools) Vol. 2, No. 8, April 2007, page 3
• "10 Historic Detroiters You Should Know," Daily Detroit, 15 January 2015