Our view: Cloquet woman was a political first

It is quite likely that 100 years ago today, Anna Dickie Olesen was on the road, in some city in Minnesota far-flung from her permanent residence in Cloquet.

Olesen, known here as a strong advocate toward compensation for 1918 fire victims, parlayed her speaking skills into a campaign for U.S. Senate. She was the first woman to run for a national seat with a major party endorsement. As a Democrat, she faced great odds in unseating the incumbent, Republican Frank Kellogg. But because of her oratory skill, she rose up in the Democratic ranks and became a national news story in the political season 100 years ago.

What is remarkable about Olesen is that she ran a shoe-string campaign, vowing to have her voice heard in every corner of the state after she surprisingly won the nomination. Her husband, Peter Olesen, the superintendent of Cloquet schools, and her 14-year-old daughter helped in the campaign.

Olesen rode a fine line as a known suffragist. Only a few years before, women had gained the right to vote. She maintained that a woman could stay in her place in the home but also do other things for the greater good.

In retrospect, Olesen was a pure politician. She ably straddled positions without alienating potential voters. She was open about the novelty of a woman running for such a high office but forthright in a woman’s right to do so. Her speeches often had those in opposition to her views applauding her ability to make her point.

A newspaper in Hutchinson described her campaign visit there: “Her audience, spellbound by her eloquence, and listening nearly breathlessly to each word, knew she had delivered it. Whatever prejudice had been in the minds of anyone who heard Mrs. Olesen, many of them going to hear her out of curiosity, that prejudice was 99 cases out of 100 removed before the conclusion of her address. It was one of the largest political gatherings in Hutchinson and one of the most eloquent, most convincing and most eagerly listened to addresses ever given here.”

So 100 years on, we thought we’d share some excerpts of Oleson’s stump speeches that may still have a place in today’s political climate.

“The preamble of our constitution says ‘this government was ordained for the common consent and general welfare.’ I think that should be the measure of all political action.”

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“I am not running as a woman. I am running as a citizen. I do not say to people ‘Vote for me because I am a woman.’ I say ‘this is my platform.’ This is what I stand for. You can vote for me if you think I’m right.”

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“David slew Goliath. I believe David’s sister could have done the same thing.”

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“Beneath that layer of feminism is the mother love that is in every woman’s heart. It is her mother love that makes her understand how much good legislation means. She wants better living conditions for the working women and good child welfare laws. These things men understand, and it is on this common ground of understanding that men meet us in politics.”

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“Neither reactionary nor radical legislation is going to do any good in the long run, as both factions base most of their arguments on property rights. I am more interested in the fortunes of oppressed men and pitiful women and children than all the property rights on earth.”

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“I believe that the local unit of government … should be given as much power as possible. The state should not infringe and the nation should not interfere with the state government more than necessary.”

Olesen finished third in the vote that fall of 1922. She was blamed, unjustly, for Kellogg losing his seat to the top vote-getter, Henrik Shipstead from the upstart Farmer-Labor Party. Shipstead would serve four terms in office.

If you have a few moments, look up Anna Dickie Olesen online. She led a fascinating life before, during and after life in Cloquet.