August 31, 1918 - Jeannette Rankin


Mary ventures off to Parkland, Pennsylvania with sister, Kathleen, today for the Labor Day weekend where she parties and dances with a group of friends.

In the meantime today's The Philadelphia Inquirer ran this brief article in the editorial page:

 

Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973), an ardent women's suffragist and pacifist, was the first woman ever elected to Congress. She was elected as a Republican in 1916, serving only one term.  She supported Montana's unrestricted women's suffrage, which was enacted into law in that state in 1914.  She remained a strong advocate for women's suffrage, including what became the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  She was one of a handful of members of Congress who voted against U.S. involvement in World War I and during her second term in Congress in 1941 she was the sole congressional vote against the declaration of war with Japan, then abstaining from the vote of war against Germany and Italy.  The newspaper article's mention of the I.W.W. is a reference to the Industrial Workers of the World, a union that was partially involved with mine workers in Butte, Montana, workers whom received strong support from Rankin.  A very detailed chronology of Rankin's life can be found at A Chronology and Primary Sources for Teaching About Jeannette Rankin.