Women in Congress : 1917 - 1964

• Author: Emmy E. Werner
• Published date: 01 March 1966
• Date: 01 March 1966
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296601900102
• Subject Matter: Articles

16

WOMEN

IN

CONGRESS :

1917 - 1964

EMMY

E.

WERNER

University

of

California,

Davis

HIS

REPORT

is

the

first

in

a

series

on

American

women

in

political

leader-

ship

positions

on

the

national

and

state

level.

Biographical

information

avail-

-*L

able

on

U.S.

congresswomen

will

be

examined

in

order

to

answer

the

follow-

ing

questions:

1.

What

experience

did

they

bring

to

their

offices

in

Congress?

2.

How

did

they

win

their

seats

in

Congress?

3.

How

satisfied

was

the

electorate

with

them?

4.

What

happened

to

them

after

completion

of

their

terms

in

Congress?

5.

What

are

the

trends

in

and

prospects

for

women’s

representation

in

the

U.S.

legislature?

The

present

report

deals

with

the

seventy

women

who

have

served

in

the

twenty-four

congresses

between

1916

and

I964 - from

Jeanette

Rankin,

who

was

the

first

woman

to

be

elected

to

the

House

of

Representatives

to

the

thirteen

who

have

served

in

the

88th

Congress.

REVIEW

OF

LITERATURE

To

the

writer’s

knowledge

there

has

been

no

published

analysis

of

biographical

data

which

includes

all

the

women

who

have

served

in

the

U.S.

Congress.

There

have

been

several

books

which

presented

short

biographical

sketches

on

individual

congresswomen.

They

are:

S.

Breckenridge,

Women in

the

20th

Century:

A

study

of

their

political,

social

and

economic

activities,

which

makes

reference

to

the

women

who

served

in

the

first

eight

congresses;’

A.

Paxton,

Women

in

Congress,

which

pro-

vides

biographical

sketches

on

the

women

in

the

78th

Congress;

Z E.

Roosevelt

and

L.

Hickock,

Ladies

of

Courage,

which

highlights

the

contributions

of

a

few

outstanding

women

politicians

on

the

national,

state

and

local

level;3

and

L.

M.

Young,

Under.

standing

Politics,

which

provides

a

survey

of

the

political

world

from

the

standpoint

of

the

women

voters

and

an

assessment

of

their

participation

until

1950.4

4

Young

has

also

written

an

excellent

bibliographical

review

in

which

she

stresses

the

fact

that

as

of

1962

no

thorough

investigation

of

the

nature

and

scope

of

the

American

women’s

direct

and

indirect

participation

in

political

life

had

been

made

by

historians

and

political

scientists.5

Additional

references

which

have

a

bearing

on

this

report

are

the

May

1947

issue

of

the

Annals

of

the

American

Academy

of

Politi-

cal

and

Social

Sciences

entitled

&dquo;Women’s

Opportunities

and

Responsibilities&dquo;

edited

by

L.

M.

Young,

and

Marian

K.

Sanders’

The

Lady

and

the

Vote,

in

which

she

stresses

the

need

for

women

to

be

more

aggressive

in

seeking

to

participate

in

party

activities.

Also,

M.

Duverger’s

report

for

the

UNESCO

on

the

Political

Role

of

f

’ New

York:

McGraw

Hill,

1933.

2

Richmond :

Dietz

Press,

1945.

3

New

York:

Van

Rees

Press,

1954.

4

New

York:

Pellingrini

and

Cudahy,

1950.

5

L.

M.

Young,

"The

American

Woman

at

Midcentury,"

American

Review,

11

(December

1961),

121-38.

6

Cambridge :

Houghton-Mifflin,

Riverside

Press,

1956.