Charlotte Zietlow, Longtime Local Civic Leader, Remembered for Decades of Public Service

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Charlotte Zietlow, longtime local civic leader and women’s rights pioneer, died yesterday at the age of 91.

Zietlow was the first woman elected to the Bloomington City Council in 1971 and served as the council president the following year. For decades, she has championed local activism and progressive causes. She was instrumental in the restoration of the Monroe County Courthouse, fought to keep Lake Monroe as our primary source of drinking water and opposed a proposal for a PCB incinerator, among many other civic accomplishments.

Honoring her many years of devotion to public service, the county justice building was renamed the Charlotte T. Zietlow Justice Center in 2012. In today’s newscast, we revisit an interview with Zietlow on WFHB with Big Talk host Michael Glab from February 8th, 2018. 

Then, Friday, March 30th, 2012 was officially declared “Charlotte Zietlow Day” in Monroe County, coinciding with the renaming of the Justice Building as the “Charlotte Zietlow Justice Center.” Among many speakers were county commissioners Mark Stoops and Iris Kiesling, as well as Zietlow herself. Their words here – in an archived WFHB feature report from April 2nd, 2012.