Charlotte Zietlow

[This profile is a work in progress]

Charlotte Zietlow is a long-time government and community leader, formerly serving as an elected official in both the City of Bloomington and Monroe County government. She was the first female president of the Bloomington City Council and first female to serve on the Monroe County Board of Commissioners, as well as its first female president.

During her tenure in county government she was instrumental in restoring the historic courthouse in downtown Bloomington. In 2012 the jail and court building at the corner of 7th and College was renamed the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center.

In the nonprofit sector she served as executive director of United Way of Monroe County from 1988-1990, then became chair of the Sanger endowment fund at Planned Parenthood of Southern Indiana. She also worked with SEED Corp. and Middle Way House, a domestic violence shelter.

In the business sector she co-founded gourmet cooking supply shop Goods Inc. (now Goods for Cooks), a business that she and her partners launched in 1973 and sold in 1988. She amassed an extensive collection of cookbooks and and was known for hat collection. She also authored two books of her own: the autobiography "Minister's Daughter: One Life, Many Lives" and "1971: How We Won" about the effort to swing local government from a Republican majority to a Democratic majority.

She was married to Paul Zietlow, an English professor at Indiana University who died in 2015. They had two children, Rebecca and Nathan, three granddaughters and a grandson who died in an accident in 2019.

Timeline: Charlotte Zietlow

2022 Publishes "1971: How We Won -- The Campaign for a Better Way That Transformed the Complacent Politics of a Midwestern City in One Momentous Election." Listen to an interview about the book with WFIU's Bob Zaltsberg here.

2020 Publishes "Minister's Daughter: One Life, Many Lives"

2012 The county jail and court building is renamed the Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center.

1996 Runs for Bloomington mayor but loses in the Democratic Party primary.

1995-2010 Works as economic development coordinator for Middle Way House, a domestic violence shelter in Bloomington.

1992 Is targeted for her pro-choice work when an unknown person inserts flyers into the Herald Times listing her personal address and phone number next to pictures of aborted fetuses.

1990 Is named chair of the Sanger endowment fund at Planned Parenthood of Southern Indiana.

1990 Resigns as executive director of United Way of Monroe County following a dispute with its board of directors.

1988-04-20 Is appointed executive director of United Way of Monroe County by its board of directors.

1988 Sells the Goods Inc. business.

1988-2006 Serves as a university trustee at Indiana State University.

1984 Is reelected to a second four-year term as District 2 Monroe County Commissioner.

1981-07-20 Monroe County Attorney Guy Loftman resigns, citing ongoing disputes with Zietlow and their inability to work together as his reason.

1980 Leads an effort to renovate the historic downtown courthouse

1980-11-04 Narrowly defeats Republican three-term incumbent Bill Hanna to be elected as the first female Monroe County Commissioner. She represents District 2 for a four-year term starting Jan. 1, 1981.

1980-05-06 Runs unopposed in the Democratic Party primary for the District 2 Monroe County Commissioner seat.

1978-11-07 Runs again for the District 7 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives but loses to six-term incumbent Republican John T. Myers.

1978-05-02 Wins the Democratic Party primary for the District 7 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, beating John Tipton.

1975-05-06 Comes in second in a four-way Democratic Party primary for Bloomington mayor, losing to incumbent mayor Frank McCloskey.

1975-01 Announces plans to run for Bloomington mayor against Democratic incumbent mayor Frank McCloskey, rather than seek reelection to Bloomington City Council.

1974-05-07 Runs in the Democratic Party primary for 7th District U.S. Congressional seat, coming in second behind Elden Tipton in a six-way race.

1973-11 Opens Goods Inc., a kitchen and housewares store in downtown Bloomington (now called Goods for Cooks). Other partners in this retail shop, located on the south side of the square, are District 51 state Rep. Marilyn Schultz and Ann Bron.

1973-01-04 Is elected president of the board for a new city department of transportation that the Bloomington council creates to administer a mass transit system, known as Bloomington Transit.

1972-01-01 Begins 4-year term on Bloomington City Council and is elected by councilmembers as president. She served as president in 1972 and 1973.

1971-11-02 Wins District 4 race for Bloomington City Council. Defeats incumbent Republican Harry Day, an IU faculty member who helped develop Crest toothpaste. Is part of a Democratic sweep into Bloomington government, led by mayoral candidate Frank McCloskey.

1971-05-04 Defeats William McGarry in the Democratic Party primary for District 4 Bloomington City Council.

1969 Moves to Czechoslovakia for a year with her husband, Paul Zietlow.

1969-05-03 Receives a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Michigan. Her dissertation is titled "A Critical Edition of the Gothic Version of the Epistle to the Romans"

1964 Moves to Bloomington to study and teach at the University of Michigan.

1960-1964 Serves as Democratic Party precinct chair in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Works on the city council campaign for Eunice Burns, whose daughter Laurie Burns later moves to Bloomington after Laurie's husband, Michael McRobbie, is named president of Indiana University.

1957 Earns a bachelor's degree in German and French literature from Valparaiso University. Marries Paul Zietlow, her childhood sweetheart.

Early 1950s Attends high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota

1934 Is born Charlotte Theile in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.