League of Women Voters lobbying for next Columbia elementary school to be named after suffragist

Roger McKinney, Columbia Daily Tribune
·3 min read

The League of Women Voters of Columbia-Boone County is promoting a proposal that the next new elementary school in Columbia Public Schools bear the name of Luella St. Clair Moss.

Voters in April approved an $80 million bond issue that includes financing for two new elementary schools. The first would open on the campus of John Warner Middle School.

Historic information about St. Clair Moss was provided to the Tribune on Thursday by the League of Women Voters, Columbia College and the Boone County Historical Society.

Known in her time as a "steam engine in petticoats," Moss was the first woman president of Christian Female College, now Columbia College. In her non-consecutive terms as president, she oversaw the financing and construction of eight campus buildings.

Luella St. Clair Moss was the first woman president of Christian Female College, now Columbia College.
Luella St. Clair Moss was the first woman president of Christian Female College, now Columbia College.

The buildings and structures include Launer Auditorium, Missouri Hall, Rogers Memorial Gate, Dorsey Hall and St. Clair Hall, the main campus building.

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Installation of electric lights was part of her first term.

"She was one of the forces for the suffragists here," said Pam Springsteel, chair of the Luella Committee for the local League of Women Voters.

St. Clair Moss helped establish the Columbia Equal Suffrage Association in 1912, working to get women the right to vote until that happened with approval of the 19th Amendment.

She was the first woman elected to the Columbia Board of Education in 1922. That year, she also ran for Congress in Missouri's 8th District. She won the Democratic nomination in a primary, but narrowly lost in the general election to the Republican nominee.

Luella St. Clair Moss helped establish the Columbia Equal Suffrage Association in 1912, working to get women the right to vote until that happened with approval of the 19th Amendment.
Luella St. Clair Moss helped establish the Columbia Equal Suffrage Association in 1912, working to get women the right to vote until that happened with approval of the 19th Amendment.

She later served as president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri and was the first woman president of the Missouri Library Commission. She worked to establish the tax base for the Columbia Public Library 100 years ago.

She died in 1947 at age 82. She was inducted into the Boone County Historical Society's Hall of Fame in 2013.

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Her name has been considered before, including for the school that became John Warner Middle School and when the school that became Beulah Ralph Elementary School was named in 2015.

The procedure for naming school buildings is in school board policy. A committee is formed comprised of key stakeholders from the district and community, and names are solicited from the community, said CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark.

Luella St. Clair Moss served as president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri and was the first woman president of the Missouri Library Commission among other leadership roles over her lifetime.
Luella St. Clair Moss served as president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri and was the first woman president of the Missouri Library Commission among other leadership roles over her lifetime.

The committee evaluates and considers the names and makes a recommendation to the school board.

The district hasn't started the process of naming the new elementary school, Baumstark said.

"We're a ways off from establishing a committee," she said. "The first step is to design the school with stakeholder input. That will take place this fall."

Springsteel said she had talked with CPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood about the LWV proposal and provided him with an informational flier.

"Wouldn't this be a perfect name for the next Columbia Public School?" the flier concludes.

League of Women Voters of Columbia-Boone County will have community actor Mary Shaw at its September picnic doing a portrayal of St. Clair Moss as part of its naming campaign. The picnic is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Sept. 6 at Gordon Shelter in Stephens Lake Park.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter for the Tribune. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Women's suffragist name suggested for next Columbia elementary school