Helen Clark McCurdy was the daughter of James Clark, a merchant in Bloomington, first selling hides and furs (1870) and then wool (1880). As a young woman, Helen worked as a store clerk, and after her father's death in 1888 her stepmother kept a boarding house.
She became the wife of Guy Stewart McCurdy, a hardware businessman in Bloomington. Apparently Guy McCurdy was prominent enough that Helen was eligible to be on multiple boards throughout her later life, including the Women's Club, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Withers Home. They married in 1905, too late for Helen to be a mother, but not too late for her to enjoy being the equal of women she must have served as a store clerk. In 1926 she travelled to Europe and in 1929 she travelled to Hawaii, something beyond the imagination of a young woman living in her stepmother's boarding house.
In 1915 she did something even more unimaginable. She ran for office in a city election. From dozens of candidates she won a nomination to be one of ten on the ballot in April. The Pantagraph backed her and a dozen very prominent men wrote to the Pantagraph to endorse her candidacy. Among those who endorsed her were: Arthur Pillsbury, C M Noble, Joseph W Fifer, H O Stone, Wesley M Owen, John B Lennon and Charles W Miller. Helen had taken an active interest in sanitation in the city, movie censorship, curfews for children and civic leadership education for children. In 1943 she was interviewed and recalled the negative response from many men in the city, but also the support from others. She did not win during that election and never did run for office again.
As side note, Helen's brother Jesse worked at the post office as a register clerk and as the assistant postmaster for ten years in Bloomington. In 1883 however, he abruptly left his position and lodged a complaint against the postmaster, George F Dick. He felt that Dick was misppropriating funds that were set aside for the employment of a money order clerk ($400). Dick argued that he was entitled to those funds as the postmaster as a perquisite if no money order clerk was hired. Investigation by the federal authorities revealed that this was the standard practice of about 50 postmasters in the state. A suit was brought against Dick in the federal court, which found in Dick's favor. In 1885, when the matter went before the U S Supreme court Dick was once again vindicated. In the mean time however, Jesse had gone into business as a hide dealer and his father became the assistant postmaster some time after 1886.
Helen is buried at Evergreen Cemetery.
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