Women have served in the United States House of Representatives since the 1917 entrance of Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana. Nearly 300 women have since served in the House. As of May 2018, there are 84 women in the House (not counting five female territorial delegates), making women 19.3% of House representatives.
Women have been elected to the House of Representatives from 45 of the 50 states in the United States. The states that have not elected a woman to the House are Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Vermont--though Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and North Dakota have elected or appointed women to the United States Senate. Women have also been sent to congress from 5 of the 6 U.S. Territories; the only Territory that has not sent a woman to the U.S. House of Representatives is the Northern Mariana Islands. California has elected more women to Congress than any other state, with 41 representatives elected since 1923.
Video Women in the United States House of Representatives
Firsts
Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana, entered the House of Representatives in 1917 as the first woman in the House or the Senate.
Florence Prag Kahn entered the House of Representatives in 1925 as the first Jewish woman in the House or the Senate.
Vera Buchanan of the House of Representatives died in 1955, making her the first woman in the House or the Senate to die in office.
Patsy Mink, an Asian-American, entered the House of Representatives in 1965 as the first woman of color in the House or the Senate.
Charlotte Reid of the House of Representatives became the first woman to wear pants in the House or the Senate in 1969.
Shirley Chisholm entered the House of Representatives in 1969 as the first African-American woman in the House or the Senate.
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of the House of Representatives became the first member of the House or the Senate to give birth while in office and the first to be granted maternity leave by the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1973, with the birth of her daughter Autumn.
The House of Representatives' gym (with the exception of its swimming pool) first opened to women in 1985, the gym having previously been male-only.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen entered the House of Representatives in 1989 as the first Latina in the House or the Senate.
Tammy Baldwin entered the House of Representatives in 1999 as the first openly gay woman in the House or the Senate.
Nancy Pelosi became the first female House Minority Whip in 2002.
Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2007.
The House of Representatives' gym swimming pool first opened to women in 2009, the pool having previously been male-only.
In 2011 the House of Representatives got its first women's bathroom near the chamber (Room H-211 of the U.S. Capitol).
Tulsi Gabbard entered the House of Representatives in 2013 as the first Hindu person in the House or the Senate.
Maps Women in the United States House of Representatives
Widow's succession
Mae Ella Nolan was the first woman elected to her husband's seat in Congress, which is sometimes known as the widow's succession. In the early years of women in Congress, the seat was held only until the next election and the women retired after that single Congress. She thereby became a placeholder merely finishing out her late husband's elected term. As the years progressed, however, more and more of these widow successors sought re-election. These women began to win their own elections.
As of 2013, 38 widows have won their husbands' seats in the House, and 8 in the Senate. The only current example is Representative Doris Matsui of California. The most successful example is Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, who served a total of 32 years in both houses and became the first woman elected to both the House and the Senate. She began the end of McCarthyism with a famous speech, "The Declaration of Conscience", became the first major-party female presidential candidate and the first woman to receive votes at a national nominating convention, and was the first (and highest ranking to date) woman to enter the Republican Party Senate leadership (in the third-highest post of Chairwoman of the Senate Republican Conference). The third woman elected to Congress, Winnifred Huck, was similarly elected to her father's seat.
Number of women
Number of women in the United States House of Representatives and Senate by Congress
Number of women in the United States Congress (1917-2017):
Number of women in the United States House of Representatives by party
Notes: "% of party" is taken from voting members at the beginning of the Congress, while numbers and "% of women" include all female House members of the given Congress
List of female members
This is a complete list of women who have served as representatives/delegates of the United States House of Representatives, ordered by seniority. This list includes women who served in the past and who continue to serve in the present.
Pregnancies
There have been ten female members of the House of Representatives who were pregnant and gave birth at least once during their tenure (one member three times).
See also
- Women in the United States Senate
- List of female state governors in the United States
References
External links
- Women in Congress -- Companion site to book produced by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
- Associated Press. "Husbands' deaths often propel widows to office". Columbia Daily Tribune, January 22, 2005. Retrieved February 15, 2005. (alternate source, via journalstar.com)
- Maurer, Elizabeth. "Legislating History: 100 Years of Women in Congress". National Women's History Museum. 2017.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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