Eliel, Harriet Judd, 1890-

Harriet Judd Eliel held a number of positions with the League of Women Voters on the local, state, and national levels, including president of the California League of Women Voters (1933-1937); secretary of the national League of Women Voters (1936-1941); and president of the San Francisco League of Women Voters (1942-1944).

Biographical Information

Harriet Judd Eliel was born in 1890 in Evanston, Illinois. She attended the University of California, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Health and Social Welfare in 1913. After the birth of her second son in 1916, she completed her Master of Arts degree in Education, also at the University of California. Between 1921 and 1924, she established and directed the experimental John Dewey School in Berkeley, California, which her sons attended.

In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Eliel held a number of positions with the League of Women Voters at the local, state, and national levels. In the 1920s and 1930s, she served on the legislative committee of the California League of Women Voters, successfully opposing state legislation to cut education funding. Eliel also served as president of the California League of Women Voters between 1933 and 1937; secretary of the national League of Women Voters between 1936 and 1941; and president of the San Francisco League of Women Voters between 1942 and 1944. Between 1944 and 1946, she held official positions with the City Government Committee and Mayor's Post-War Planning Commission, both in San Francisco.

Eliel had two sons and two daughters, born in 1914, 1916, 1928, and 1930.