Nell Kruegel Irion

Nell Cora Kruegel Irion (1877–1964) was an American politician and suffragette who served as superintendent of schools in Bonner County and was the first woman to run for Congress in Idaho.

Nell Kruegel Irion
Member of the Sandpoint, Idaho Board of Aldermen
In office
1936–1937
Personal details
Born
Nellie Cora Kruegel
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Henry Thomas Irion
​
​
(m. 1902; died 1960)​
Parents
  • Robert H. Kruegel (father)
  • Amelia Faust (mother)

Life

Irion was born in 1877 to Robert H. Kruegel and Amelia Faust and moved to Sandpoint, Idaho after marrying Henry Thomas Irion in 1902.[1]

In 1910, she was elected as Bonner county's school superintendent. In 1920, she was nominated by the Democratic Party on the first ballot for Idaho's first congressional district, but was defeated in a landslide by incumbent Representative Burton L. French with 34,654 votes to 15,218 votes.[2][3] In 1936 she was elected to Sandpoint's city council and in 1939 she ran for mayor of Sandpoint, but was defeated by incumbent Mayor Malcolm P. McKinnon by 99 votes.[4][5]

In the 1940s she served as president of Idaho's affiliate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs.[6] Following her husband's death in 1960 she began to wear male clothing before her own death in 1964 at age 87.

References
  1. "Nell Irion".
  2. "ID District 1". 1 January 2007.
  3. "Pocatello Mayor Chosen". The Salt Lake Tribune. 26 August 1920. p. 2. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Sandpoint Woman Seeks Mayoralty". The Twin Falls News. 18 April 1939. p. 1. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Woman Defeated". Spokane Chronicle. 26 August 1939. p. 6. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Women's Club Plan Suggested By C. A. Robins". Spokane Chronicle. 30 August 1947. p. 7. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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