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Senate Stories | Women of the Senate


August 18, 2020
By Senate Historical Office
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Governor Albert H. Roberts Signing the Tennessee Certificate of Ratification of the 19th Amendment, August 1920
Governor Albert H. Roberts signs the Tennessee Certificate of Ratification of the 19th Amendment in August 1920.
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Governor Albert H. Roberts Signing the Tennessee Certificate of Ratification of the 19th Amendment, August 1920
Tennessee State Library and Archives

Governor Albert H. Roberts signs the Tennessee Certificate of Ratification of the 19th Amendment in August 1920.

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee state legislature approved the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution by a nail-biting margin of one vote. The Volunteer State was the 36th state to approve the amendment, and having met the constitutional requirement of approval by three-quarters of the states, the amendment was ratified. Suffragists across the nation celebrated this long and hard-fought victory.

Two years later, 87-year-old Rebecca Felton of Georgia, a Democrat, became the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. Appointed to fill a vacancy, Felton took the oath on November 21, 1922. She gave only one speech in the Senate Chamber, but her brief tenure tore down a long-standing barrier to women. Felton predicted a new day for women in politics. “When the women of the country come in and sit with you . . . , you will get ability, you will get integrity . . . and you will get unstinted usefulness.”

Rebecca Felton (D-GA) Pictured with Members of the National Woman's Party, November 20, 1922
Rebecca Felton (D-GA) and her supporters celebrate her appointment to the Senate in November 1922.
Library of Congress
Rebecca Felton (D-GA) Pictured with Members of the National Woman's Party, November 20, 1922
Library of Congress

Rebecca Felton (D-GA) and her supporters celebrate her appointment to the Senate in November 1922.

Even before Felton took office, women had already left their mark on Senate history. In fact, women have always been a part of the Senate’s story, influencing its members and guiding its actions as petitioners, activists, correspondents, spouses, witnesses, lobbyists, speakers, and most importantly, as staff and then as senators. To commemorate the centennial of the Woman Suffrage Amendment, ratified in 1920, and to acknowledge the service of the first woman senator in 1922, the Senate Historical Office celebrates the evolving role of the Women of the Senate.

Portrait of Margaret Bayard Smith, by Charles Bird King.
Portrait of Margaret Bayard Smith, by Charles Bird King.
National Portrait Gallery
Margaret Bayard Smith
National Portrait Gallery

Portrait of Margaret Bayard Smith, by Charles Bird King.

Since the Senate opened its doors to the public in 1795, women have been a near-constant presence in and around the Chamber. Margaret Bayard Smith was an avid writer of letters who began writing for the National Intelligencer, Washington, D.C.’s first newspaper, in the 1820s. An articulate observer of the Senate's early years, Smith's accounts of the dramatic exchanges between Senators Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne provided a richly detailed portrait of this historic debate. In addition to chronicling Senate debates, women have played pivotal roles in shaping them, such as petitioning to abolish slavery and demanding women’s right to vote, among other issues.

Ladies of the Senate Red Cross Unit, 1959
Ladies of the Senate Red Cross Unit in 1959.
U.S. Senate Historical Office
Ladies of the Senate Red Cross Unit, 1959
U.S. Senate Historical Office

Ladies of the Senate Red Cross Unit in 1959.

Spouses have been active political participants, engaging with elected members and the nation in a variety of ways. During World War I, for example, Senate wives formed a local Red Cross branch to support U.S. troops, rolling bandages and assisting local hospitals. After the war, the Ladies of the Senate expanded their mission to include other charitable work. Today, Senate spouses—including the husbands of women senators—maintain a connection with the Red Cross and pursue a variety of activities, including hosting an annual luncheon for the First Lady. Senate spouses continue to play an important role in the Senate of the modern era, not only as partners in Senate families, but also as active, dynamic, and influential actors in the American political system.

"Highest Paid Woman in Government Employ,"Popular Mechanics, August 1911
Leona M. Wells, assistant clerk for the Senate Appropriations Committee, featured in Popular Mechanics magazine in August 1911.
Popular Mechanics
"Highest Paid Woman in Government Employ," August 1911
PDF
Popular Mechanics

Leona M. Wells, assistant clerk for the Senate Appropriations Committee, featured in Popular Mechanics magazine in August 1911.

By the time Felton took office in 1922, a growing number of pioneering women had assumed top staff positions on committees and in senators’ offices. One of those pioneers, Leona Wells, joined the Senate's clerical staff on January 14, 1901, and remained on the payroll for the next 25 years. Today, women hold many important and influential positions in the Senate. They work for committees and in members’ offices, as elected officers, policymakers, legal counsel, and staff directors. They also support the institution’s daily operations, serving on the Capitol Police force, for example, in Senate dining facilities, in building maintenance, as Senate curators and historians, and in a variety of other positions.

Reenactment of Oath-taking in the Vice President's Office, January 3, 1949
Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) reenacts the oath-taking ceremony with members of her class in January 1949.
Margaret Chase Smith Library
Reenactment of Oath-taking in the Vice President's Office, January 3, 1949
Margaret Chase Smith Library

Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) reenacts the oath-taking ceremony with members of her class in January 1949.

Felton’s historic Senate appointment paved the way for other women senators. Hattie Caraway of Arkansas became the first woman to win election to the Senate in 1932. In 1949 Margaret Chase Smith of Maine took the oath of office, becoming the first woman to serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. In the 21st century, women’s growing influence in politics is seen daily in the Senate Chamber, where a record number of women currently serve as U.S. senators.

Campaign Button, "Carol Moseley Braun, Illinois, for U.S. Senate"
Campaign button featuring Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL).
U.S. Senate Historical Office
Campaign Button, "Carol Moseley Braun, Illinois, for U.S. Senate"
U.S. Senate Historical Office

Campaign button featuring Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL).

Fifty-seven women have served in the United States Senate since the first woman took the oath of office in 1922. To capture some of their varied experiences, document the challenges they faced, and record their unique perspectives on social and political issues of the day, Senate historians have conducted oral history interviews with former women senators and staff. Their stories are central to understanding Senate history. They provide a fuller, richer understanding of the evolving role of women in the Senate and their impact on the institution and the country.

The Senate Historical Office continues its Women’s Suffrage Centennial series with its new online commemorative exhibit Women of the Senate.



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