Virginia Bedell

American lawyer

Virginia P. Bedell (1895-1975) was an American attorney and the founder of Assigned Children who helped children of veterans.

Biography

Bedell became an Iowa county attorney through on-the-job training rather than obtain a degree. She was the first American woman to be a part of a parole board, a position that she held for 19 years, later being elected to President of the Central States Correction Association and then joining the first Governor's Commission on Alcoholism. Bedell was active in her church and was a Republican.^[1]^[2] She founded Assigned Children to help children of veterans as a part of the Legion Auxiliary.^[3]

Bedell has a brick on Iowa State University's Plaza of Heroines.^[4] She was posthumously added to the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1983. Her son Jack stated on August 24, 1983, of her addition, "She was never satisfied until she reached the top. She didn't do anything part way. She was of the opinion that there was nothing beyond the abilities of women".^[5]

Iowa Women's Hall of Fame

1970s

1975	Amelia Bloomer Carrie Chapman Catt Ola Babcock Miller Annie Turner Wittenmyer
1976	Susan Glaspell Cora Bussey Hillis Agnes Samuelson Ruth Buxton Sayre
1977	Jessie Binford Jessie Field Shambaugh Ida B. Wise Smith Mary Louise Smith
1978	Jacqueline Day Dorothy Houghton Carolyn Pendray Ruth Suckow
1979	Minnette Doderer Mabel Lee Mary Jane Odell Louise Rosenfeld

1980s

1980	Rosa Cunningham Mary Grefe Arabella Mansfield Catherine G. Williams
1981	Mary Newbury Adams Roxanne Conlin Mary Garst Louise Rosenfield Noun
1982	Peg Stair Anderson Ruth Bluford Anderson Pearl Hogrefe Jeanne Montgomery Smith
1983	Virginia Bedell Evelyn K. Scott Davis Beverly Beth George Everett Helen LeBaron Hilton
1984	Fannie R. Buchanan Mary Frances Clarke Mary Louise Petersen Edith Rose Murphy Sackett
1985	Gladys B. Black Edna Griffin Anna B. Lawther Alice Van Wert Murray
1986	Marguerite Esters Cothorn Willie Stevenson Glanton Jessie M. Parker Dorothy Schramm
1987	Jolly Ann Horton Davidson Gwendolyn Wilson Fowler Lou Henry Hoover Nellie Walker
1988	A.Lillian Edmunds Twila Parker Lummer Marilyn O. Murphy Patricia Clare Sullivan
1989	Nancy Maria Hil Georgia Rogers Sievers Ruth Wildman Swenson Cristine Swanson Wilson

1990s

1990	Mary Jane Coggeshall Betty Jean Furgerson Merle Wilna Fleming Glenda Gates Riley
1991	Mabel Lossing Jones Mary Louisa Duncan Putnam Marilyn E. Staples Lois Hattery Tiffany
1992	Virginia Harper Helen Brown Henderson Eve Schmoll Rubenstein Mary Beaumont Welch
1993	Julia Faltinson Anderson Mamie Eisenhower Phebe Sudlow Jean Adeline Morgan Wanatee
1994	Mildred Benson Lois Eichacker Gertrude Rush Evelyne Jobe Villines
1995	Sue M. Wilson Brown Mary E. Domingues Campos Gertrude Dieken Rowena Edson Stevens
1996	Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret Meridel Le Sueur Janette Stevenson Murray Mary E. Wood
1997	Charlotte Hughes Bruner Peg Mullen Beulah E. Webb Annie Nowlin Savery
1998	Bess Streeter Aldrich Janice Ann Beran Lynn G. Cutler Maude Esther White
1999	Mary Jaylene Berg Rosa Maria Escudé de Findlay Helen Navran Stein Elaine Szymoniak

2000s

2000	Betty Jean Walker Clark Denise O'Brien Adeline Morrison Swain Margaret Boeye Swanson
2001	Ursula Delworth Phyllis Propp Fowle Phyllis Josephine Hughes Ann Dearing Holtgren Pellegreno
2002	Bonnie Campbell Sue Ellen Follon Alice Yost Jordan Shirley Ruedy
2003	Diana L. Findley May E. Francis Jean Hall Lloyd-Jones Margaret Mary Toomey
2004	Joy Corning Mary Ann Evans Ruth Cole Nash Sally Pederson
2005	Johnie Wright Hammond Brenda LaBlanc Susan Schechter Jo Ann Zimmerman
2006	Jeannette Eyerly Christine Grant Dorothy Marion Bouleris Paul Margaret Wragg Sloss
2007	Ruth Ann Gaines Emma J. Harvat Ada Hayden Connie Wimer
2008	Joan Urenn Axel Barbara Moorman Boatwright Hualing Nieh Engle Marilyn A. Russell
2009	Linda K. Kerber Mary Kramer Adeline Lavonne McCormick-Ohnemus Lyn Stinson

2010s

2010	Julia Addington Mary Lundby Ruby L. Sutton Charese Yanney
2011	Nancy Dunkel Jacqueline Easley McGhee Charlotte Bowers Nelson Mildred Hope Fisher Wood
2012	Judith A. Conlin Teresa Marie Hernandez
2013	Deborah Ann Turner Barbara Marie Mack Patty Judge Mary Louise Sconiers Chapman
2014	Renee Hardman Mary O'Keefe Maggie Tinsman Christie Vilsack
2015	Joyce Boone Chapman Michelle D. Johnson Linda K. Neuman Marsha Ternus
2016	Grace Amemiya Angela Connolly Michele Devlin Viola Gibson
2017	Jane Boyd Joni Ernst Christine Hensley Kim Reynolds
2018	Dianne G. Bystrom Ruth Harkin Jean Y. Jew Peggy Whitson
2019	Ruth B. Klotz Mona Kadel Martin Ione Genevieve Shadduck Florine Mary Schulte Swanson

2020s

2020	Mark Cady Betty Jean Dillavou Durden Ann Fry Jorgensen Helen Miller Mary Elizabeth Young Bear
2021	Cornelia Clarke (Iowa) Jan Mitchell (Iowa) Donna Reed Roxann Marie Ryan
2022	Elizabeth Bates Cowles Mary Elaine Richards Laurie Schipper Mary Swander

References

^ "Important Women in Iowa History". World History. August 3, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
^ "Virginia Bedell". Iowa Department of Human Rights. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
^ Reyna-Rodriguez, Victoria (26 March 2019). "Powerful Iowa Women". Issuu. Trend Monthly. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
^ "Virginia P. Bedell". Iowa State University. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
^ Daubenmier, Judy (August 24, 1983). "State commission honors Virginia Bedell". The Daily Reporter. Retrieved June 7, 2019.