Cristine Louise Swanson Wilson

Background

Cristine was born on June 28, 1945; the oldest daughter of Donald Swanson and Margaret (Boeye) Swanson.

Education

In 1967 Wilson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, United States, where she was involved in student government and active in Republican politics. She hosted former president Dwight Eisenhower during his visit to the campus in May 1965. She planned to become an educator and a lawyer.

In 1969 Cristine Louise Swanson received a Master’s degree in history at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. In 1975 Cristine Wilson began studying law at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States.

Career

Wilson taught social studies at Mahopac Middle School north of New York City, from 1967 to 1968. She continued teaching at Franklin Junior High in Des Moines. In the early 1970s, Wilson became a leading Iowa feminist through her work with young people. Her employers asked her to review books for younger children. She critiqued the unvarying depiction of women in stereotypical housewife roles. Wilson’s feminism consistently emerged from personal experience, unable to get a credit card without her husband’s signature, she challenged the policy. She also led a lawsuit against school policy prohibiting pregnant teachers from using sick leave. Her ally in women’s rights and best friend was Roxanne Conlin. With a group of like-minded friends, they founded the Iowa Women’s Political Caucus in 1972 in Conlin’s living room. The caucus encouraged women to become involved in politics.

In 1971, with Governor Robert Ray's support, Wilson and other important figures, including Betty Durden of Drake University, chair of the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, from 1969 to 1972, Ralph R. Brown, (chair of the commission’s Legislative Committee), Arlene Dayhoff (vice-chair of the commission), Dorothy Goettsch (the first executive director), Edwin C. Lewis, and Evelyne Villines, worked to make the governor’s commission permanent as the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women (ICSW) in 1972, making it eligible for state funding. Elizabeth Shaw shepherded the measure through the Iowa House, Arthur Neu through the Senate. Wilson served on the ICSW until 1976, including a year as a chair (1972).

Under Wilson’s guidance, the ICSW had notable success in bettering women’s status in Iowa. Achievements included state funding for child care centers, making the language throughout the Iowa Code gender-neutral, eliminating the requirement for corroborative testimony in rape trials, providing that rape victims no longer be interrogated about their sexual past, and making marital rape a crime. The commission also ensured that homemaker's contributions be recognized as part of an estate, eliminating the requirement that housewives and farm wives pay taxes on inheritances, and sex discrimination became prohibited in education, credit, and housing. Other initiatives included proposing changes in divorce and abortion laws, and lobbying the Iowa legislature to ratify the federal Equal Rights Amendment.

At the age of 31, on May 20, 1977, Wilson suffered an accident that left her in a coma for 14 years until her death. Family and friends are convinced that had this untimely catastrophe not occurred, Wilson could have been Iowa’s first woman governor. Her life serves as the standard by which the award’s nominees are judged, a life of service and dedication.

Achievements

• In 1989 Jane Barker, an employee of the commission who worked as a secretary nominated Wilson for a posthumous medal.
  
  When Margaret Swanson was awarded the medal in 2000, she and Wilson became the only mother and daughter to receive the award.

Connections

Cristine married George Whitgraf. They divorced with no children. In 1972 she married Mel Wilson, a history teacher. The Wilsons had two children, Hawkeye and Sarah.

Father:

Donald Swanson

Mother:

Margaret (Boeye) Swanson

Spouse:

Mel Wilson

ex-spouse:

George Whitgraf

George was an administrator of youth programs for Iowa Republican Governor Robert D. Ray.

Son:

Hawkeye Wilson

Daughter:

Sarah Wilson

References

• The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs.
  2008