Laura F. Osborn was a prominent advocate of non-partisan school boards in Michigan, including contribution to legislation passed in 1913 and later lobbying then Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris to support this reform.

[1] She was first elected to the Detroit School Board in 1917, campaigning on a platform of reform.

Osborn also played a role in developing Wayne State University in the mid-1930s.

[4] She also ran unsuccessfully for Detroit City Council two times.

[citation needed] She taught school in Huntington until her marriage in 1891 to Francis C. Osborn, a Detroit businessman and inventor.