Charlotte Zietlow, the longtime Bloomington activist and community leader, has died.
She was 91.
Zietlow moved to Bloomington with her husband in 1964 and spent the next six decades organizing for Democratic and community causes. At the time, Republicans controlled Bloomington politics. Zietlow was determined to change that.
Read more: Zietlow recalls bringing civic engagement to Bloomington
Zietlow won elections to city council and Monroe County’s board of commissioners, eventually serving as the first elected female president of both.
She also ran unsuccessfully for mayor and Congress.
“Forty years ago, when I was a college student first getting involved in local politics, Charlotte was already a legend. I learned so much from her,” Democratic state representative Matt Pierce said. “Always attending the meetings, always speaking out, always being engaged, always asking people, ‘What can we do to improve the situation’?”
Even in her final years, Zietlow remained an ever-present observer at public meetings, attended demonstrations, and fought for progressive causes.
Zietlow was a former head of the local United Way and supporter of Planned Parenthood, Middle Way House and many other social service organizations.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/nyAYdp0KgbE
“ Charlotte is a friend, she is a champion, she's a teacher, a mentor. And her life will go down, not just as a legacy, but that legacy is going to reverberate for generations to come,” Democratic state Sen. Shelli Yoder said in an interview.
“The way that she has cared deeply for her neighbors, her community, this state, is a testimony for all of us. And one that I think about frequently of how I want to emulate her accessibility and her passion,” Yoder said. “If Charlotte Zietlow was going to be at a meeting, there were going to be a lot of questions asked.”
Yoder said Zietlow looked for points of agreement and built on them: “She found the common ground and that's where she stayed. That's where she worked from in order to build collaboration and success in doing good for all.”
Zietlow and business partner Marilyn Schultz also founded Goods for Cooks in downtown Bloomington.
Across Sixth Street, the Monroe County Justice Center carries her name.
“ I've been very, very lucky, I think, because somehow I've retained friendships through it all,” Zietlow told WFIU/WTIU News in 2023.
“There have been some difficult times and some where I would rather have not been on the other side from some people except that for the issue. I've always worked in terms of the issues, not in the terms of the people.”
Zietlow’s husband Paul, an English literature professor at IU, died in 2015.
In late September, Zietlow was to join a panel discussion about the future of the Monroe County before her health declined.
Other speakers at the event addressed her absence.
“I want to recognize who’s not in the room but is very much here in spirit is Charlotte Zietlow,” moderator Emma Crossen said. “And we honor her contributions not only today but to the larger work of tending to the future of our community.”
