(1917) Rankin becomes first female elected to US Congress Lived: Jun 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973 (age 92)
Parents: Olive Rankin (Mother) · John Rankin (Father)
Siblings: Wellington D. Rankin (Brother)
Party: Republican Party
Education: University of Montana · University of Washington · Columbia University School of Social Work
Previous offices: Representative MT 1st District (1941 – 1943) · Representative MT at-large District (1917 – 1919)Highlights
- 1880: Rankin was born on June 11, 1880, near Missoula, Montana, nine years before the territory became a state, to schoolteacher Olive Pickering and Scottish-Canadian immigrant carpenter and rancher John Rankin.
- 1911: In February 1911, Rankin became the first woman to speak before the Montana legislature, making her case for women’s suffrage.
- 1917: By 1917, women had been granted some form of voting rights in about forty states, but Rankin became a driving force in the movement for unrestricted universal enfranchisement.
- 1940: Rankin won election to the House once again in 1940, at the age of 60, defeating incumbent Jacob Thorkelson, an outspoken antisemite, in the July primary, and former Representative Jerry J. O’Connell in the general election.
- 1972: Although her legacy rests almost entirely on her pacifism, Rankin told the Montana Constitutional Convention in 1972 that she would have preferred otherwise.
- 1973: Rankin died on May 18, 1973, age 92, in Carmel, California.
Jeannette Rankin, U.S. Congresswoman from Montana
wiki/Jeannette_Rankin
