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Archives - Did You Know...
Firsts for Women
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Appointed Secretary
of Labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, Frances Perkins
was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She remained
in office until 1945. |
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Representative
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House Democratic Leader, is the first
woman
to lead her party in Congress. |
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The first woman
to serve in the U.S. Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-GA).
Appointed in 1922, she served for one day. |
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The first woman
elected to the U.S. House of representatives was Jeannette Rankin
(R-MT), who served from 1917-1919 and again from 1941-42. A pacifist,
she was the only person to vote against U.S. entry into both World
Wars. |
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The first woman
of color in Congress was Representative Patsy Mink (D-HI) who served
from 1965-1977 and again from 1990 until her death in 2002. The
first African American woman in Congress was Shirley Chisholm (D-NY),
who served from 196901983. The first Latina in Congress was Representative
Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL), who took office in 1989 and is still
serving. |
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Representative
Mae Ella Nolan (R-CA) became the first woman to chair a congressional
committee
in 1925, heading the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office
Department. |
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Loretta Sanchez
(D-CA 47) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA 39) are the first sisters to
serve together in Congress. |
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Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-ME) is the first woman (and the only Republican woman)
to have been elected to her State House, State Senate, U. S. House,
and U.S. Senate. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) also followed this
path to the U.S. Senate, making her the first Democrat to do so. |
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Nellie Tayloe
Ross (D-WY) was the nation’s first woman governor, picked
by her party to run in 1925 after her husband died. Her two-year
term began 15 days before Miriam (Ma) Ferguson (D-TX) became the
second woman governor, elected as a stand-in for her impeached
husband. |
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Governor Janet
Napolitano (D-AZ) is the first woman to succeed another woman as
governor of a state. |
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Governor Kathleen
Sebelius (D-KS) is the first woman governor whose father (John
Gilligan, D-OH) was also governor of a state. |
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The first women
state legislators were three Republicans elected to the Colorado
House of Representatives in 1894: Clara Cressingham, Carrie C.
Holly, and Frances Klock. |
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The first woman
state senator was Martha Hughes Cannon, a Utah Democrat who was
elected in 1896. |
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Susanna Salter
of Argonia, Kansas, was elected mayor in 1887 – the first
woman mayor in the country. |
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In 1924, Bertha
K. Landes (R) president of the Seattle City Council, became acting
mayor, the first woman to lead a major American city. Two years
later, she was elected mayor in her own right in a campaign run
by women. |
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The first woman-versus-woman race for the
U.S. House was in 1944, when Rep. Clare
Booth Luce (R-CT) defeated Margaret
Connor. The first woman-versus-woman
race for the U.S. Senate was in 1960, when
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME)
defeated Lucia Cormier. |
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The first woman-versus-woman
gubernatorial race was in 1986, when Republican Kay Orr defeated
Democrat Helen Boosalis to become governor of Nebraska. |
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Sen. Margaret Chase
Smith (ME) became the first woman to have her name placed in
nomination for president at a major party
convention when Sen. George Aiken
nominated her at the 1964 Republican
national convention. Smith – also the first
woman to serve in both the House and
Senate – had campaigned briefly for the
post when the Senate was not in session. |
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Washington is the first state to have both a
female governor and two female US Senators
at the same time. |
Women
Running for U.S. President and Vice President |
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Victoria
Woodhull, a stockbroker, publisher, and protégé of
Cornelius Vanderbilt, ran for president of the United States in
1872 on the Equal Rights Party ticket. Belva
Lockwood, the first woman admitted to
practice law before the U.S Supreme Court
ran for president on the same party's ticket
in 1884 and 1888. |
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Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (ME) became
the first woman to have her name placed in
nomination for president at a major party
convention when Sen. George Aiken
nominated her at the 1964 Republican
national convention. Smith – also the first
woman to serve in both the House and
Senate – had campaigned briefly for the
post when the Senate was not in session. |
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In 1972, Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) ran
for president in the Democratic primaries. At
the party's national convention, she won
151.25 delegate votes before Sen. George
McGovern clinched the nomination. |
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Frances (Sissy) Farenthold, a former Texas
state legislator who twice ran for governor of
that state, finished second in the balloting
for the 1972 Democratic vice presidential
nomination, receiving more than 400 votes. |
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Third-term Congresswoman Geraldine A.
Ferraro (D-NY), secretary of the House
Democratic Caucus, became the first woman
ever to run on a major party's national ticket
when she was selected by Walter F. Mondale as his Vice Presidential
running mate in 1984. |
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Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO)
explored the idea of running for president in
the 1988 election, but bowed out of the race
after concluding that she could not overtake
men who had been running and raising
funds for months before her. |
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Elizabeth Dole, who had served as U.S.
Secretary of Labor, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Federal Trade
Commissioner, and president of the American Red Cross, ran
for the Republican presidential nomination
in 2000. After failing to attract sufficient early
support, she withdrew from the race. She
now represents North Carolina in the U.S.
Senate. |
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Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) is
among ten Democrats seeking the 2004
presidential nomination. An attorney and
one-term U.S. senator (1992-1998), Braun
has also served as U.S. Ambassador to
New Zealand, Illinois state representative,
and Cook County Recorder of Deeds. |
Women Candidates for U.S. Congress |
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The largest number of
women to file as candidates for U.S. Senate elections was 29 (22D,
7R), which occurred
in 1992. The largest number of women to win major-party
nominations for the U.S. Senate was 11,
which occurred in 1992 (10D, 1R) and
again in 2002 (8D, 3R). |
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A record 217 (136D,
80R, 1I) women filed as candidates for the U.S. House in 1996.
In 2002 a record 124 (78D, 46R) women
won their primaries and became their
parties’ candidates for the U.S. House of
Representatives; 3 (3D) additional women
were the candidates of their parties for non-
voting delegate seats in the House. |
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The first woman-versus-woman
race for the U.S. House was in 1944, when Rep. Clare
Booth Luce (R-CT) defeated Margaret
Connor. The first woman-versus-woman
race for the U.S. Senate was in 1960, when
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME)
defeated Lucia Cormier. |
Women Candidates for Governor |
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In 1994, a record 34 (18D, 15R, 1ACP)
women filed for gubernatorial races and a
record 10 (6D, 3R, 1IND) won their primaries. In 2002, the record
number of women
gubernatorial nominees was tied with 10
(9D, 1R) women winning their primaries. |
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The first woman-versus-woman gubernatorial race was in 1986, when
Republican
Kay Orr defeated Democrat Helen Boosalis
to become governor of Nebraska. |
Women
in Presidential Cabinets |
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Appointed Secretary
of Labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, Frances Perkins
was the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She remained
in office until 1945. |
Women
in the U.S. Senate and House |
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Since the
first Congress, 11,699 people have served in the House or Senate.
Of these, 215 (less than 2%) have
been women.
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The first woman
of color in Congress was Representative Patsy Mink (D-HI) who served
from 1965-1977 and again from 1990 until her death in 2002. The
first African American woman in Congress was Shirley Chisholm (D-NY),
who served from 196901983. The first Latina in Congress was Representative
Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-FL), who took office in 1989 and is still
serving. |
| |
The first woman
to serve in the U.S. Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-GA).
Appointed in 1922, she served for one day. |
| |
Representative
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the House Democratic Leader, is the first
woman
to lead her party in Congress. |
| |
The first woman
elected to the U.S. House of Representatives was Jeannette Rankin
(R-MT), who served from 1917-1919 and again from 1941-42. A pacifist,
she was the only person to vote against U.S. entry into both World
Wars. |
| |
Representative
Mae Ella Nolan (R-CA) became the first woman to chair a congressional
committee
in 1925, heading the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office
Department. |
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Two
women, both Maine Republicans, currently chair committees in the
U.S. Senate: Senator Susan Collins (Committee on Governmental Affairs)
and Senator Olympia Snowe (Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship).
Only two women before them have chaired Senate full committees:
Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-KS) chaired the Committee on
Labor and Human Resources, and Senator Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D-AR)
chaired the Committee on Enrolled Bills. |
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Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-ME) is the first woman (and the only Republican woman)
to have been elected to her State House, State Senate, U. S. House,
and U.S. Senate. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) also followed this
path to the U.S. Senate, making her the first Democrat to do so. |
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Loretta Sanchez
(D-CA 47) and Linda Sanchez (D-CA 39) are the first sisters to
serve together in Congress. |
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Delaware,
Iowa, Mississippi, New Hampshire & Vermont are the only states
never to have sent a woman to either the US Senate or US House. |
| Women
Governors and Statewide Officials |
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Nellie Tayloe
Ross (D-WY) was the nation’s first woman governor, picked
by her party to run in 1925 after her husband died. Her two-year
term began 15 days before Miriam (Ma) Ferguson (D-TX) became the
second woman governor, elected as a stand-in for her impeached
husband. |
| |
Governor Janet
Napolitano (D-AZ) is the first woman to succeed another woman as
governor of a state. |
| |
Governor Kathleen
Sebelius (D-KS) is the first woman governor whose father (John
Gilligan, D-OH) was also governor of a state. |
| Women
in State Legislatures |
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The first woman
state senator was Martha Hughes Cannon, a Utah Democrat who was
elected in 1896. |
| |
The first women
state legislators were three Republicans elected to the Colorado
House of Representatives in 1894: Clara Cressingham, Carrie C.
Holly, and Frances Klock. |
| Women Mayors and Local Officials |
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Susanna
Salter of Argonia, Kansas, was elected mayor in 1887 – the
first woman mayor in the country. |
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In 1924, Bertha
K. Landes (R) president of the Seattle City Council, became acting
mayor, the first woman to lead a major American city. Two years
later, she was elected mayor in her own right in a campaign run
by women.
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