Women in Congress: An Introduction
About this object Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a suffragist and peace activist, was the first woman to serve in Congress.
The history of women Members of Congress began on November 7, 1916, when Montanans elected Republican candidate Jeannette Rankin to one of the state’s At-Large congressional seats, almost four years before the 19th Amendment granted women nationwide the right to vote. From the First Federal Congress in 1789 to Rankin’s victory in 1916, nearly 7,000 Representatives had served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and all were men. Sworn in on April 2, 1917, the opening day of the 65th Congress (1917–1919), Representative Rankin became the first woman Member in Congress’s 128-year history.
Back home, Montanans knew Rankin well as an advocate for woman suffrage, but official Washington and the U.S. public viewed her as a curiosity. Speculation swirled around every aspect of her life—her marital status, affinity for moving pictures, hair color, conduct, and dress–not to mention her ability to fulfill the duties of the position.1
Over time, the magnitude of these votes against war eclipsed the significance of Rankin’s other legislative agendas, ambitions, and actions during her two brief, nonconsecutive terms. Rankin introduced legislation clarifying the legal citizenship of married women, initiated consideration of federal funding for infant and maternity health programs (which became the Sheppard–Towner Act of 1921), and proposed the creation of and served on a new standing committee, the Committee on Woman Suffrage.2 Her commitment to her district complemented these legislative initiatives, and it was perhaps best displayed by her effort to intervene on the behalf of Montana copper miners in a dispute over wages.3 She also embraced her position as the most prominent woman in American politics, opening the debate on the House Floor concerning a proposed constitutional amendment on women’s suffrage in January 1918, which would eventually become the 19th Amendment in 1920.4
This website details the diverse experiences of women in Congress since Jeannette Rankin’s historic election.6 From a complete lack of representation in Congress before 1917, women have advanced to serve as key legislators, committee chairs, and elected party leaders within Congress.
About this object Jeannette Rankin's promotion of women’s rights extended to filling the visitor’s galleries with supporters on important occasions. For an expected vote on the suffrage amendment on June 6, 1917, she provided this gallery pass to Kentucky suffrage leader Alice White.
Footnotes
1James J. Lopach and Jean A. Luckowski, Jeannette Rankin: A Political Woman (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2005): 133–136; “First Congresswoman Makes Debut Here,” 4 June 1917, Baltimore Sun: 12; “Miss Rankin Raised Pay of New Zealand Women,” 26 February 1917, New York Tribune: 7; “Congresswoman Rankin Real Girl; Likes Nice Gowns and Tidy Hair,” 4 March 1917, Washington Post: E3; “No Smile from Miss Rankin,” 14 October 1917, Washington Post: S4.
2H.R. 12334 was designed to allow women who married non-citizens to reclaim their American citizenship should the marriage dissolve. The Sheppard–Towner Act (42 Stat. 224) provided federal funding for infant and maternity health programs. Rankin introduced the legislation in 1918 and it became law in 1921. Hearings Before the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, U.S. House of Representatives, Relative to Citizenship of American Women Married to Foreigners, 65th Cong., 2nd sess. (13 December 1917); Theda Skocpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992): 497–498. For information on the establishment and member rosters of the Committee on Woman Suffrage, see David Canon et al., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789–1946, Volume 1 (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2002): 942–943.
3Lopach and Luckowski, Jeannette Rankin: A Political Woman: 155–164.
4Congressional Record, House, 65th Cong., 2nd sess. (10 January 1918): 771–772.
5Cited in Winifred Mallon, “An Impression of Jeannette Rankin,” 31 March 1917, The Suffragist: n.p.
6The closing date for this essay is January 2, 2017, at the end of the 114th Congress. Facts and figures are accurate through that date.