Charlotte Giesen

Life and career

Charlotte Milton Caldwell was born to Charles Minor Caldwell and his wife the former Ida Goodykoontz in Radford, Virginia. She graduated from Radford College, then known as the Women's Division of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, in 1925. On April 5, 1929 she married Arthur Rossa Giesen, and they would have a son and daughter who survived them.

In 1954 Charlotte Giesen became the first woman elected to Radford's city council. Her husband, Arthur Giesen, was Radford's mayor and also served on the city council. Charlotte Giessen was for many years the women's editor of the Radford News Journal and also edited the original Montgomery News Messenger. She served on the board of directors of both the Radford Child Care Center and the Radford chapter of the American Red Cross. She was also active in her Lutheran Church, the American Legion auxiliary and the local chapter of the American Farm Bureau.

During the Massive Resistance crisis, voters elected Giesen in 1957 to the House of Delegates (a part-time position). She defeated incumbent Democrat John L. Whitehead, a member of the Byrd Organization who supported closing schools to prevent racial integration. Giesen represented Radford and the surrounding Montgomery County, and won re-election in 1959. Her platform, considered progressive for the day, included reinstating compulsory education, requiring polio vaccinations and the jailing of drunk drivers, and support for open government.

Fellow delegate, Democrat Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid characterized Giesen as "everyone's favorite aunt." Giesen served on four committees: Federal Relations, Immigration, Printing, and Public Property. In 1961 Giesen was defeated for reelection by Democrat Kenneth I. Devore, as schools had reopened, but many whites supported private segregated academies. Devore would likewise serve two terms, and receive more prestigious committee assignments (to General Laws, Roads, and House Expenses).

Nonetheless, Charlotte Giesen continued her civic involvement. In 1962 she was reelected to the Radford City Council, on which she served until 1966. Giessen also served on the Board of Visitors of her alma mater from 1970 until 1978. Moreover, her son, Pete Giesen, who had become President of Augusta Steel Corporation, continued the family's Republican political tradition by winning election to the Virginia House of Delegates from Augusta County and the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Although Augusta Steel closed, and he once lost a bid for re-election, Pete Giesen would represent those cities and parts of Augusta County as well as all or parts of Bath, Highland and Rockingham Counties for more than three decades of elected public service (1964-1996).

Death and legacy

Widowed, Giesen died at her home in Radford on January 28, 1995, survived by her son and daughter, and their families (which by then included thirteen grandchildren). She was buried in that city's West View Cemetery. Future governor John N. Dalton and his father were her next-door neighbors during her time as a delegate.

During her lifetime, Giesen was voted Radford Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women's Association, and in 1960 the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars elected her Outstanding Woman of the Year. Her family established a scholarship to honor her and her husband at Radford. The House of Delegates and State Senate jointly memorialized her, although oddly, her son's political career ended shortly after her death. The Virginia Tech library, special collections division, has her papers, including a taped interview.