Maude Duncan was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

woman and a former mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Winslow

Winslow, Arkansas

Winslow is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 399 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area.-History:...

, a community in Washington County

Washington County, Arkansas

Washington County is a county located in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 203,065. The county seat is Fayetteville. Washington County is Arkansas's 17th county, formed on October 17, 1828, and named for George Washington, the first President of the...

 in northwestern Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

.

Early life

Maude Duncan was born to a well-to-do family in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. There she met and married her husband and followed him to Winslow, where he started a newspaper, the Winslow American.

Newspaper publisher

In 1919, her husband died. She continued his work by writing, editing, selling advertising, and publishing the newspaper. This she did with a manual printing press.

Petticoat Government

In 1925, she ran for mayor and was elected, along with an all-woman government, which became known as the "Petticoat Government". It was the first in America and stirred up quite a bit of controversy among the citizens.

External links

• Winslow, Arkansas Historical Society (dead link)