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Whitney Freund Thomas
Horatio G. Bent Elementary, Bloomington

lorence Fifer Bohrer was born in 1877. She lived at909 N. McLean Street in Bloomington, Illinois.Most of her life she was an active member of theUnitarian Church. Her father was Governor JosephW. Fifer and her mother was Gertrude Lewis Fifer.She had one brother, Herman Fifer. When Florencewas a young girl, she got along most of the time withher brother. Typical children, they often playedpranks on each other and their friends. Florencewent to the progessive Unitarian Hillside HomeSchool, an institution in Spring Green, Wisconsin,devoted to the individualized education of a child.

At home, Bohrer had a pony that she rodearound town. She once taught her pony to march up and down the steps and into the governor's mansion. People in town thought it was wrong for a girlto have so much free time that she could go aroundtown without adult supervision. Bohrer's parentswere thought to be too lenient with their children.They did not believe in hitting their kids, and theyencouraged them to think for themselves.

Bohrer's father was an important politician during the 1800s. He had known Abraham Lincolnbefore Florence was born. When she was a little girl,Florence listened to her father talk to other important people like David Davis, Jesse Fell, CarlSandburg, and Theodore Roosevelt. She also livednext door to the Adlai Stevenson family. Her fatherwas the Governor of Illinois from 1888 to 1892. Thismight have helped inspire her to become an Illinoissenator later in life.

During her school days, Florence and her friendCharlotte Capen took a street car to school. Streetcars were pulled by mules. Once in a while the twogirls would sit facing each other in the car and jumpup and down on the back platform. This wouldcause the mules' hind feet to lift off the ground.The conductor of the car would then bring the girlsup to the front of the car to watch them more closely.In 1898, when Florence was twenty-one years old,she married Jacob Bohrer. Florence and Jacob hadtwo children, a girl named Gertrude and a boynamed Joseph. Both children were named after herparents.

In the early 1900s Florence became very active incivic causes. In 1910 Florence formed the McLeanCounty Tuberculosis Association. Florence was awomen's rights activist too. During World War I, shehelped with the civilian relief work and served asthe local director of the American Red Cross.

As her own children grew, Florence becameinterested in the relationship between school age-children and the home. It was through her intenseinterest in this subject that the first Mothers Clubwas formed in the city of Bloomington. Later thisclub merged with the National Parent-TeacherAssociation.

In 1924, four years after women won the right tovote, Florence ran for state senator and won withoutassistance from her Republican party. Bohrer'sfriends made a club in her name and helped get herelected. She fought for the rights of women, children, prisoners, the sick, and the poor. She wrote alaw that gave women the right to serve on juries.She sponsored twenty child welfare bills; halfbecame laws. She was the first woman state senatorin Illinois. She ran for a second term in 1928 andagain she won. During this time she sponsoredmany laws and acts in the Senate. One was to makeIllinois the official state song. She also helped createchanges for care of dependent, delinquent, andhandicapped children. In 1932 Bohrer ran for athird term of office and lost because of theDemocratic landslide in that year.

Once when Bohrer was visiting a mental hospital, she was locked up because her visit was unannounced. She said she was a senator and in thosedays women were not senators.

Florence was interested in many causes. Shehelped raise money to build the Girls' IndustrialHome. She formed the McLean County League ofWomen Voters in November 1933. From 1933 to1934, she was chairman of the McLean CountyEmergency Relief Commission. Florence was elected president of the McLean County League ofWomen Voters. She later served on the NationalBoard of the League of Women Voters. In 1941 shebecame president of the Illinois branch of theleague.

Bohrer also worked very hard for children, thepoor, and women of Illinois. She was recognized by several organizations for her hard work. In 1934Bohrer received the Bloomington CommunityService Award, and in 1945 she won a citation fromthe Illinois Welfare Association.

Florence Fifer Bohrer died at the age of eighty-three in July 1960. She had contributed much toIllinois as the state's first woman senator. She was ahumanitarian, someone who was concerned withthe welfare of those who are underprivileged insociety. Bohrer lived by a strong motto, "I saw athing to do and I did it."�[From Florence FiferBohrer, 'The Unitarian Hillside Home School,"Wisconsin Magazine of History (Spring 1955);Florence Fifer Bohrer, "Memoirs: Chapter VIGovernor Oglesby and Milton Hay,"Illinois StateRegister, June 18, 1956; "Famous BloomingtonWomen: Illinois' Only Woman Senator,"PantographFeb. 27, 1949; "Mrs. Bohrer, State's First WomanSenator Dies at 83,"Pantograph, July 20, 1960; "NoSpecial Praise for the Lady, Please,"Pantograph, July4, 1976; Beth Thomas, "Florence Fifer Bohrer, FirstWoman State Senator,"Illinois History (March 1992);Unitarian Church of Bloomington,One HundredFifteen Years of Chwchmanship.]