Draft:Harriet Horning

Harriet (Nee Meaghan) Horning (Born February, 1900) was an American politician. A Democrat, she served from 1959 to 1961 as the State Auditor of South Dakota, being the first woman to hold that office.

Biography
Horning was born in February of 1900 in Ghent, Minnesota. The second oldest of nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Meaghan, she received her schooling in Estelline, South Dakota.

Harriet married Ross C. Horning, who worked as a railroad switchman for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway. Together, the couple had nine kids, eight of whom survived into adulthood. Tragically, Ross died in August 1944, leaving Harriet to support all eight surviving children.

In 1946, she was elected as the Register of Deeds for Codington County. In 1948, she was re-elected to the office, serving a second term through 1950. From 1950-1954, she continued her work in the office as Deputy Register of Deeds.

Harriet was awarded the title of South Dakota Mother of the Year in 1952 by the State Mothers Committee. Upon being notified of the award, Harriet credited her kids as a large part of receiving the award, calling them "a pretty swell bunch of kids" and noting that "I couldn't have won alone." Speaking about her parenting style, she noted: "There are no set rules in our house. Everybody has a right to express himself. This is a great privilege. They have had to accept responsibility and respect others. They also had to be unselfish." Harriet later served as the chairman for the State Mothers Committee, overseeing the organization as it crowned the South Dakota Mother of the Year in 1958.