| On This Day in American History |
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On April 2, 1917, the first congresswoman, Jeannette Pickering Rankin, takes her seat as a representative from Montana. Rankin, a progressive Republican, had long advocated for women’s suffrage and was key to giving women the vote in Montana. Although male members of her congressional class were seated a month earlier, Rankin was delayed while congressmen debated whether a woman could be admitted to Congress. Rankin was also a pacifist, and one of her first votes was against American involvement in World War I. She left Congress after losing a Senate bid, but was re-elected as a congresswoman in 1940. |
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