City Charter, First Woman Mayor

The City Charter & the First Woman Mayor

The Muscatine Art Center’s permanent collection includes several artifacts related to the politics and voting history of Muscatine County. Among those items is the original, handwritten Charter of the City of Muscatine. The Charter addresses all factions of city government as well as the name change from ‘Bloomington’ to ‘Muscatine’. Written with pen and ink on handmade rag paper, the document was signed on February 5, 1851, by Iowa Speaker of the House of Representatives, George Temple and President of the Iowa Senate, Enos Lowe.

Photo from the December 19, 1975 edition of The Muscatine Journal shows newly elected city officials. Front row, left to right, Larry Kemp, alderman-at-large; new mayor Evelyn Shauland; A.M. “Buster” Thorton, alderman-at-large; Wayne A. Garrett, 1st ward alderman. Back row, left to right, Gayle Sayles, park commissioner; Richard Waltman, 2nd ward alderman; John Duncan, 5th ward alderman; Patrick Hopewell, 4th ward alderman. Photo by Joe Knaapen.

Far left: Inaugural Dress worn in 1976, by Evelyn L Schauland - first woman mayor of Muscatine. 3-piece red knit ensemble with white fur collar decorated with pearl bead trim. Gift of Evelyn L. Schauland

Right: The original handwritten charter of the City of Muscatine.

Bottom: Hand ballot boxes were used by placing small, black or white marble size balls into a side hole on the box, to cast a person’s vote. The final vote was tallied by counting the balls.

Majority won. The term ‘black-balled’ came from black balls representing the ‘nay’ vote.

Noted sections of the Charter, covering the role of ‘Mayor’, are partially noted below in the transcription:

Sec. 8. The Officers of the City shall be a Mayor, two aldermen from each ward, a Marshall, Recorder, Treasurer, Asfefsor [sic] and wharf Master for the choice of whom an election shall be holden annually on the first Monday of March, AD. and each of whom will hold his office for the term of one year (except in the case of the alderman as hereafter provided) and untill [sic] their fuccefsor [sic] are elected and qualified. Sec. 10. It is the duty of the Mayor to see that the laws and ordinances of the City are executed and their violation punished to superintend and direct the Official Conduct of the Subordinate Officers…

to perform such duties and exercise such powers as pertain to the Office of Mayor of a City… Sec. 16. The legislative authority of the City is vested in a City Council consisting of the Mayor and a board of aldermen composed of two from each ward of the City. Sec. 20. Ordinances pafsed [sic] by the City Council shall be signed by the Mayor and attested by the Recorder… A native of Muscatine, Evelyn Schauland became the first woman to sit on the Muscatine city council in 1965 when she was elected alderman-at-large . According to the Muscatine Journal, she held the post for three years . Ten years later, she was elected Muscatine’s first woman mayor, after running against alderman William Angell . Mayor Schauland was instrumental in getting the US Highway 61 Bypass built around Muscatine . In 1976, “Schauland, who spent $311 of her own money on the campaign, said she was returning unopened all the contributions she received during the past few months .” The economical campaign was used to emphasize her commitment to economy in city government . During the campaign, Schauland said she would be a “full-time mayor,” but that did not mean she would “take over the city administrator’s duties .” “That job requires a trained professional,” she continued . “But under no circumstances, will he give orders to the council . I want the council members to think for themselves . ” In another Journal article she stated “a mayor has to take a stand . You can’t please everybody but you must take a stand and try to do what is right for the people of the community . ” “I feel that one of the biggest contributions the mayor can make toward good city government is to spend enough time in each department to know that the people who are being paid for doing a job for the city are actually doing the job . ” Schauland said “I will work for the continued progress of Muscatine and the betterment of each one of its citizens through honest and efficient effort…Anyone who thinks that city problems are solved by great flashes of intuition is naïve to say the least . They are solved by people working together, hard, on a day to day basis .” n

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