About Agnes Chalmers (1876–1931)
Agnes Chalmers, Medical Freedom, March 1913.
In 1911, Agnes Chalmers ran a successful campaign for the Grand Rapids Board of Education. But her path to victory was far from smooth. As a practicing Christian Scientist, Chalmers held personal religious views concerning the efficacy of medical practice that alarmed influential members of Grand Rapids society.
In the run-up to the 1911 election, Chalmers had taken issue with an effort by the school board to offer free medical inspection to students in all public Grand Rapids schools, objecting specifically to the compulsory nature of the policy and declaring at a campaign event hosted by the Grand Rapids Equal Opportunity Club “that the state has no more right to foster upon the people one school of medicine any more than it has the right to force all into one form of religion.”
Chalmers’s statements at the Equal Opportunity Club proved fodder for her political enemies, who sought to use her public opposition to the school board’s medical policies against her. On election day, two advertisements ran in the Grand Rapids Herald that falsely quoted Chalmers as saying “If I am elected, I certainly shall take my religion into the schools with me.” By the time Chalmers noticed the sabotage, the votes had already been cast. Still, Chalmers was determined to get to the bottom of the affair. As the day of the election drew to a close, she traced the sabotage back to prominent citizens John Blodgett and Justina Hollister. Chalmers had publicly sparred with Hollister over the issue of medical inspection in public schools earlier that month. Later, in 1914, Blodgett funded the new Blodgett Memorial Hospital building.
Political advertisement used to sabotage Chalmers, Grand Rapids Herald, April 3, 1911.
From seven until midnight on election night, Chalmers met with the editor of the Grand Rapids Herald and John Blodgett’s legal counsel. The next day, Blodgett clarified in the Grand Rapids Herald that Chalmers had nothing to do with the advertisement and that the provider of the quotation had not actually witnessed the speech from which he claimed to quote.
Although Chalmers was not vindicated until the day after the 1911 election, she won her seat on the Grand Rapids Board of Education handily, receiving the third highest vote total of the seven school board candidates. On the school board, Chalmers made good on her promise to oppose medical inspection in the public schools; but on other matters she tried to keep her religious views separate from her school board service. When local parents objected to perceived fearmongering in a planned series of lectures on tuberculosis for Grand Rapids school children, Chalmers voiced her critique at a public hearing, not as a member of the school board but as a private citizen.
Retraction by John W. Blodgett, Grand Rapids Herald, April 4, 1911.
Chalmers served a total of three terms on the Grand Rapids Board of Education. She was reelected in 1914 but lost her third bid in 1917. Undeterred, she threw her hat in the ring for the 1918 race and won. Global events, however, would interrupt her tenure on the school board. In August of 1918—just months before World War I would come to an end—Agnes Chalmers accepted an overseas position with the Christian Science War Relief and Camp Welfare Committee, giving the Grand Rapids Board of Education just ten days notice before departing for France.
Chalmers had traveled abroad to support a cause she believed in before wartime 1918. In 1913, she had traveled to England to observe the strategies of the English suffrage movement, specifically the tactics of Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union. But Chalmers was also active in suffrage work closer to home. Later in 1913, she attended the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association convention in Lansing as a delegate, and that same year she was elected to the board of directors of the Grand Rapids Equal Franchise Club. When Grand Rapids suffragists took over production of the Grand Rapids Press for a special suffrage edition in 1914, Chalmers served as the edition’s City Editor.
Agnes Chalmers died on July 16, 1931, having lived a life full of service to her community and country. Her jovial, outspoken approach to her work is perhaps best captured by a newspaper account from 1913 entitled “Woman Operates Saw, Lathe, Planer: Miss Agnes F. Chalmers See for Herself What Manual Training Does.” The reporter followed Chalmers as she tested each piece of manual training equipment. Afterwards, she made sure to remind the reporter, and any potential detractors, that she did indeed have “all her fingers left.”
About Agnes Chalmers (1876–1931)
Agnes Chalmers, Medical Freedom, March 1913.
In 1911, Agnes Chalmers ran a successful campaign for the Grand Rapids Board of Education. But her path to victory was far from smooth. As a practicing Christian Scientist, Chalmers held personal religious views concerning the efficacy of medical practice that alarmed influential members of Grand Rapids society.
In the run-up to the 1911 election, Chalmers had taken issue with an effort by the school board to offer free medical inspection to students in all public Grand Rapids schools, objecting specifically to the compulsory nature of the policy and declaring at a campaign event hosted by the Grand Rapids Equal Opportunity Club “that the state has no more right to foster upon the people one school of medicine any more than it has the right to force all into one form of religion.”
Chalmers’s statements at the Equal Opportunity Club proved fodder for her political enemies, who sought to use her public opposition to the school board’s medical policies against her. On election day, two advertisements ran in the Grand Rapids Herald that falsely quoted Chalmers as saying “If I am elected, I certainly shall take my religion into the schools with me.” By the time Chalmers noticed the sabotage, the votes had already been cast. Still, Chalmers was determined to get to the bottom of the affair. As the day of the election drew to a close, she traced the sabotage back to prominent citizens John Blodgett and Justina Hollister. Chalmers had publicly sparred with Hollister over the issue of medical inspection in public schools earlier that month. Later, in 1914, Blodgett funded the new Blodgett Memorial Hospital building.
Political advertisement used to sabotage Chalmers, Grand Rapids Herald, April 3, 1911.
From seven until midnight on election night, Chalmers met with the editor of the Grand Rapids Herald and John Blodgett’s legal counsel. The next day, Blodgett clarified in the Grand Rapids Herald that Chalmers had nothing to do with the advertisement and that the provider of the quotation had not actually witnessed the speech from which he claimed to quote.
Although Chalmers was not vindicated until the day after the 1911 election, she won her seat on the Grand Rapids Board of Education handily, receiving the third highest vote total of the seven school board candidates. On the school board, Chalmers made good on her promise to oppose medical inspection in the public schools; but on other matters she tried to keep her religious views separate from her school board service. When local parents objected to perceived fearmongering in a planned series of lectures on tuberculosis for Grand Rapids school children, Chalmers voiced her critique at a public hearing, not as a member of the school board but as a private citizen.
Retraction by John W. Blodgett, Grand Rapids Herald, April 4, 1911.
Chalmers served a total of three terms on the Grand Rapids Board of Education. She was reelected in 1914 but lost her third bid in 1917. Undeterred, she threw her hat in the ring for the 1918 race and won. Global events, however, would interrupt her tenure on the school board. In August of 1918—just months before World War I would come to an end—Agnes Chalmers accepted an overseas position with the Christian Science War Relief and Camp Welfare Committee, giving the Grand Rapids Board of Education just ten days notice before departing for France.
Chalmers had traveled abroad to support a cause she believed in before wartime 1918. In 1913, she had traveled to England to observe the strategies of the English suffrage movement, specifically the tactics of Emmeline Pankhurst’s Women’s Social and Political Union. But Chalmers was also active in suffrage work closer to home. Later in 1913, she attended the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association convention in Lansing as a delegate, and that same year she was elected to the board of directors of the Grand Rapids Equal Franchise Club. When Grand Rapids suffragists took over production of the Grand Rapids Press for a special suffrage edition in 1914, Chalmers served as the edition’s City Editor.
Agnes Chalmers died on July 16, 1931, having lived a life full of service to her community and country. Her jovial, outspoken approach to her work is perhaps best captured by a newspaper account from 1913 entitled “Woman Operates Saw, Lathe, Planer: Miss Agnes F. Chalmers See for Herself What Manual Training Does.” The reporter followed Chalmers as she tested each piece of manual training equipment. Afterwards, she made sure to remind the reporter, and any potential detractors, that she did indeed have “all her fingers left.”
Campaign Information
FIRST CAMPAIGN
Political Office: Board of Education
Election Year: 1911
Party Affiliation: Nonpartisan race
Elected: Yes
SECOND CAMPAIGN
Political Office: Board of Education
Election Year: 1914
Party Affiliation: Nonpartisan race
Elected: Yes
THIRD CAMPAIGN
Political Office: Board of Education
Election Year: 1917
Party Affiliation: Nonpartisan race
Elected: No
FOURTH CAMPAIGN
Political Office: Board of Education
Election Year: 1918
Party Affiliation: Nonpartisan race
Elected: Yes
Biographical Information
Full Name: Agnes Florida Chalmers
Life Dates: December 15, 1876–July 16, 1931
Birthplace: Algoma, Kent, Michigan
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Educator, Author, Christian Science Advocate
Party Affiliation: Unknown
Social Reform Activism: Women’s Suffrage, Civic Reform, Education
Sources
“Agnes F. Chalmers Returns from France.” Grand Rapids Press, April 23, 1919.
“City Editor of Suffrage Edition.” Grand Rapids Press, May 2, 1914.
“Cut Out the Fear: That is the Sentiment in Tuberculosis Lecture Controversy.” Grand Rapids Press, February 14, 1912.
“Election Results at a Glance.” Grand Rapids Herald, April 7, 1914.
“Is Satisfied Now: Miss Agnes F. Chalmers Says Brown’s Lecture is All Right.” Grand Rapids Press, February 15, 1912.
Chalmers, Agnes F. “Libel and Forgery Unavailing.” Medical Freedom 1, no. 2 (October 1911).
“Miss Agnes F. Chalmers Gets Overseas War Job.” Grand Rapids Press, August 6, 1918.
“Miss Chalmers Loses in Race for Board Seat.” Grand Rapids Press, April 3, 1917.
“Miss Chalmers’ Service to Medical Freedom in the Grand Rapids Schools.” Medical Freedom 2, no. 7 (March 1913): 12.
“Opportunity Club Hears Candidates.” Grand Rapids Herald, April 2, 1911.
“Political Advertisement.” Grand Rapids Herald, April 3, 1911.
“Poll Less than 6,000 Votes in Spring Election.” Grand Rapids Press, April 2, 1918.
“Spreading Gospel of Suffrage in County.” Grand Rapids Press, November 4, 1913.
“Suffragists Elect Officers.” Grand Rapids Herald, May 21, 1913.
“To Study English Suffrage Tactics.” Grand Rapids Herald, August 17, 1913.
“To the Public.” Grand Rapids Herald, April 4, 1911.
“Two Women Land: Mrs. Wanty and Miss Chalmers on Board of Education.” Grand Rapids Press, April 4, 1911.
“Woman Operates the Saw, Lathe, Planer: Miss Agnes F. Chalmers Sees for Herself What Manual Training Does.” Grand Rapids Press, February 14, 1913.