c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] >> you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook. next, on american history tv, congressional research service analyst jane armstrong hudiburg talks about the life and legacy of suffragette, pacifist, and politician jeannette rankin. the first woman elected to congress. the u.s. capitol historical society hosted this event. it is about 55 minutes. chuck: today, we are here to listen to jane hudiburg, who is an old friend of the society. as i understand it, your first involvement falling in love with the capital was as a tour guide with the capital guide service. then, jane was a writer and

researcher for the senate history office. she was student programs coordinator of the maryland general assembly in annapolis. and i am still kicking myself for not following up with her offer to tour the dome at the statehouse. that is probably out of reach at this point, because now she is in d.c. with the congressional research service. we are so happy to have her in the madison building down the street. she is a regular contributor. the latest article she submitted was in an issue a couple of years ago on bootlegging in the capital. that might suggest she is in to digging out hidden corners of the capital. jeannette rankin isn't a hidden anything. all of us know who she is. she has got a statue. it is precisely those figures in history that have the most to surprise us with, because we think we know who they are and what their legacy is, but maybe jane hudiburg will share new

information with us. so help me welcome jane. [applause] jane: thank you, chuck. it is a great honor to be here. i have had a lot of great experiences with the capital historical society. thank you, lauren and charlotte. i also appreciate that some of my current colleagues are here, and my boss jim is here, along with people from my new office and people from my old office. heather and mary from the senate historical office. even some people from way back in my capital guiding days are here. so thank you so much. i really appreciate the support and appreciate you coming back, even though we had a delay in this talk.

in this presentation, i will be speaking about representative jeannette rankin. i'm going to use a lot of quotations from her. some of these quotations i have condensed for the sake of brevity. my sources include newspaper articles, the congressional record, jeannette rankin's testimony before committees in congress, and her interviews with her biographer. many of the images come from the library of congress's prints and photographs collection, where they are available from the office of the house historian, which has a great website. if anyone is interested in the source material, i am happy to provide more information after the talk. i am currently an analyst on congress for the congressional research service, but all of the views discussed here are solely my own or attributed to the many people who interacted with jeannette rankin over her lengthy lifetime. jeannette rankin is remembered and celebrated for being the first woman elected to congress. in fact, she won her election in 1916, four years before the 19th

amendment gave women the right to vote nationwide. she is also known as the only member of congress to vote against both world wars. in 1917, the house voted for the current war in germany. she and 49 members voted in opposition. she received harsh criticism for her vote and left congress at the end of her first term. she returned to congress 22 years later at the start of world war ii. this time when the president called for war, even confirmed pacifists joined the cause. the war vote occurred on december 8, 1941, one day after the japanese attacked pearl harbor. under such circumstances, no legislator dared to vote against the war declaration. that is, no legislator except jeannette rankin. on this issue, one newspaper reported, "she raised her voice alone." so, when the name jeannette rankin is recalled, she is likely to be linked to these two

facts. she was the first woman in congress and the only member to vote against both world wars. it is right to do so. these two facts formed a core part of her identity. but she was more than the two votes and more than the first female in congress. she was an activist her entire life, and until her death at the age of 92, she returned again and again to the capital to testify, to protest. she continued to fight the rights of others, whether they were women, children, copper miners in montana. she took the fullest role possible in the democratic process and fought for others to do so as well. and for that, she also deserves

to be remembered. in this talk, i will focus on rankin's time in congress. but first, let's briefly consider her years in montana, and her work with the suffrage movement, before montana women got the right to vote in 1914, a necessary step for rankin winning in 1916. rankin was born in 1880 and was raised near missoula, montana. she was the oldest of seven children. far from being isolated on the frontier, she grew up with means. her father was a rancher and a building contractor, and her mother moved west to be a schoolteacher. her family was prominent in the community and the state's republican party. like many of the other women who would join the suffrage movement, she went to college.

first, the university of montana, then the famous new york school for philanthropy work. she worked in washington state for a time before becoming fully immersed in the suffrage movement. she served as an organizer for the national american women's suffrage association, traveling throughout the western states. she gave speeches on women's right to vote. in addition to montana, she spent most of her time in california working without compensation. she planned her own roots, hired bands to drum up the crowd, she put up posters, made speeches, and drew large numbers of people from the towns and surrounding countryside. meanwhile, the montana state legislature was considering making women's suffrage a referendum item. as chair of the montana state suffrage committee, rankin enlisted the support of politicians, male voters, and women were unable to vote but were, nevertheless, necessary backers of the measure. she spoke in front of the state legislature, the first woman to do so. at this time, the western states, one by one, were

allowing women the right to vote, starting with wyoming. this may surprise people because after the turn of the century, many of the women, i was going to say, it may be surprising that the states are on the western side of the country because after the turn of the century, many of the women in the suffrage movement were associated with the progressive movement, which was known for its outreach work in the urban northeast and chicago. part of the problem why the eastern states were not following the western was because many of these states made it difficult to change their constitutions. often, they required 2/3 or 3/5 votes to make a change. the majority of the state's male voters might support women's suffrage, but not have the super majority needed.

an amendment to the constitution was needed. that was to make a change for the remaining states. montana was able to give women the vote by law with a 53% vote. their referendum passed in 1914. as i said, rankin influenced that outcome by lobbying the state legislature, as well as the public. two years later at the age of 36, rankin ran for congress. she ran as a republican, and to repay the women who supported her. she had some advantages. her family was well-to-do and prominent in the state. she herself had built a name for herself in the suffrage movement, and had the financial support of her younger brother, wellington, a well-known republican in his own right, who often served as her campaign manager. rankin had one more advantage. she received a vast amount of free publicity as both national and local papers cover the race. the reporters expressed a

fascination with her campaign. in october 1916, "the montana enterprise" declared, "jeannette rankin, candidate for congress on the republican side, is making a phenomenal campaign around the state." the new york sun reported, "she has a rare personality of fine intellect and unusual perspective." meanwhile, "the seattle times" made this conclusion. "ms. rankin is an incredible speaker, attractive in appearance, and a skilled politician." she had honed her political skills by lobbying politicians on behalf of the suffrage movement. at this time, montana had two congressional seats, but they were both in the same at-large district. in other words, the district encompassed the entire state of montana. rankin found the at-large arrangement gave her another advantage. she had more statewide recognition that her competitors, but it meant she had to travel long distances to

reach far-flung populations. she held rallies in train stations and visited countless schools across the state. still, in an era of little political polling, she had no idea if she had the support needed to win one of the two seats. in the end, she easily won the top spot in the primary. outputting voting the next competitor by 7000 votes. indeed, many democratic women crossed to the republican primary in order to vote for her. on november 6, 1916, rankin probably voted for herself in the general election. as the polls closed, she could not take the attention of not knowing the outcome. according to her biographer, rankin was unable to bear the suspense. she called the missoula newspaper office to learn the results as they trickled in. she did not tell the reporter

her identity. first, she asked about woodrow wilson's reelection, and almost offhandedly, how did jeannette rankin run? "oh, she lost," was the reply. discouraged, rankin went to bed. but as the newspapers reported, she won by more than 7000 votes. she believed that three favorable conditions brought her to congress. the support of women voters, the at-large district, and her stance against entering the war in europe. this last point we shall see also made it difficult for her to stay in congress. newspapers and reporters flocked to missoula. many wanted to interview the representative elect. photos hit the papers across the nation. some writers wondered if she could handle the stress of being

not only the first woman in congress, but the only woman in congress. some reporters scoffed at her ability to fit in, others did give her credit for braving the circumstances. one kentucky reporter noted, "was there any man willing to become one of adeliberative body made of 434 women and himself? no, a man in that position would have his courage news from the palms of his hands." to give you an idea of what it was like as the only female, jumping ahead to when she sat for the portrait of the 65th congress, here she is in the center surrounded on all sides by men. but look at it when you expand the picture, how many men were on each side of her. 434 men, one woman. not only was rankin the only

woman member of congress, but at that time, there were few women working in the capital. before she was sworn in, she hired two women staffers who she knew and had lived with her for a time. these women became trusted aides. they would serve every function. they were secretaries, researchers, correspondence, policy advisers. indeed, rankin and her staff made a capable team. there was one enduring difficulty, there were no bathroom facilities near her office. as it seemed inconceivable women would ever be elected to congress, and no provisions had been made for them. and jeanette and her secretaries had to make their way through a maze of stairways to reach public accommodations. this was a dispute that went on for decades after rankin as

well, by the way. so, at the time, in 1917, the constitutional start of a new congress was march 4 but the first session often did not commence for several months. president woodrow wilson called congress to consider the war in europe, and specifically, german submarine attacks. the special session started on april 2, 1917, the day rankin would be sworn in. that morning, she was the guest of honor at a breakfast. it was sponsored by members of the national american women's suffrage association. she spoke to the crowd of suffragists and child welfare activists. "i want you to know how much i feel this responsibility. there will be many times when i make mistakes, and it means a great deal to me to know i have your encouragement and support." she spoke at the headquarters of the association, where she spoke from the balcony addressing the crowd.

from there, she proceeded to the capital, arriving to be sworn in along with the other members of the 65th congress. this is a little news clip they had of the 65th opening day. you can see the jefferson building in the background. i believe. so, that day, the house chamber's galleries were packed. suffragists and other curious observers peered over the railing to see her enter. reporters described the scene. men and women got together and yelled themselves hoarse.

members did the same on both sides of the chamber, when miss jeannette rankin entered the hall. one witness, the wife of a congressman, recorded the proceedings in her journal. she described in great detail rankin's physical appearance as she walked to her seat, escorted by her elderly montana colleague. let me go back a couple. "she wore a well-made, dark silk and chiffon suit. her skirt was a modest walking length, and she walked well and unselfconsciously. her hair was a commonplace brown and arranged in a pompadour. she carried a bouquet of flowers given to her at the suffrage breakfast.

she did not look to her right or left until she reached her seat. far back on the republican side. but before she could sit down, she was surrounded by men shaking hands with her. i was rejoiced to see she met all of them with a frank smile and shook hands cordially. it would have been sickening if she smirked or giggled or been coquettish. worse still if she had been masculine or the like. she was a sensible young woman going about her business. when her name was called, the house cheered and rose so she had to rise and bow twice, which she did with entire self possession." the same day rankin and her colleagues were sworn in, president wilson addressed congress, calling for a war declaration.

the next few days, friends and house members tried to persuade rankin to vote for the war. a no vote would risk the suffragist cause. it would also risk rankin's political career. knowing her antiwar views, her own brother warned her after the vote, there will be nothing. still, rankin held firm. at 3:00 in the morning, the

final 17 hour debate wound down. the clerk prompted each member to vote. ignoring the first rollcall, rankin responded the second time she heard her name, "i want to stand by my country, but i cannot vote for war." immediately, the press turned against her. while no reporter disputed her use of the now famous phrase, how rankin said these words is uncertain. in an article, a newspaper claimed, "she spoke with a sob and a voice scarcely audible." additional newspapers claimed she shed tears, prompting an angry pennsylvania state legislature to declare, "this is the time for agitation. this is the time where we all must confront the difficulty that present itself and from the world at this time. jeannette rankin wept." rankin and others denied she cried during the vote. one congressman called the story apocryphal. however, rankin's voice most likely reflected the stress. she knew american boys would be heading off to war and many would not return. this understanding triggered

quite a few tears on the house floor. according to another newspaper, it was a time when a strong men were unashamed of their emotions. the hour perhaps of the country's greatest crisis. and while the public forgave congress men who openly wept, the lone congresswoman was not given the same consideration. it is important to note that while she was opposed to war, she did support measures to prosecute the war. once congress voted to go to war, she wanted the u.s. to win. in the weeks following the war vote, she voted on measures for soldiers going into war.

but rankin was concerned other issues would be pushed aside as the nation focused on war. in particular, she did not want women or children to lose any gains made by them or on their behalf. she and her staff wrote regular columns, in ladies home journal, extolling the need to keep women moving forward. in one column, she disagreed with calls for women to support the war efforts by hand-grinding their own flour. "carried along the waves of misguided patriotism have come subtle attempts to destroy the industrial standards of this country." rankin also fought for the rights of women who married foreign men. she introduced a bill that would have allowed women to keep their citizenship and property after marrying aliens. as a montanan, she knew women who married canadians and in the process lost their citizenship, including their new right to vote, even though they had not set foot outside of montana. while she was fighting for women throughout the country, rankin sought to expand democracy elsewhere. she introduced a resolution stating the u.s. supported political independents in ireland, stating, "women realize irish struggle because of the struggle they went through for liberty and democracy." even while she eyed national and international affairs, she represent the largely rural people of montana. she introduce measures to provide economic security for farmers and miners. her efforts to assist miners on strike perhaps doomed any chance for her to win a second term. she took on the powerful anaconda copper company, which was profiting heavily from wartime expenditures, and

according to rankin, blacklisting miners. the company dominated the montana state legislature. at the company's urging, the legislature divided montana's at-large district into two districts. not surprisingly, rankin's territory now had a large democratic population. with her house seat in jeopardy, she ran for the senate, but lost the republican primaries. she ran as an independent in the general election, but lost that race as well. some say wellington rankin's prediction had come true. perhaps his sister's career was over with the no vote. jeannette had one more opportunity to take a stand in the last few months of her term. rankin and like-minded members argued for the creation of a committee on women's suffrage, which formed after the election to consider an amendment to the constitution. before the end of her term, she

served as the ranking member of that committee, which was an unusual honor given her lack of seniority. before a packed gallery in 1919, she opened the debate. in this picture, notice the people wearing white. that was the color of women's suffrage. and why i am wearing a white shirt today in honor of that. rankin's speech connected the war with the need to expand democracy to women. "mr. speaker, we are facing today a question of political evolution. international circumstances have forced this question into an issue. our country is in a state of war. the nation has had a terrible shock. the result has been a sudden change in our national consciousness. the things we had for years, taken for granted, are suddenly assuming a new significance to us. deep down in the hearts of the american people is a living faith in democracy. sometimes, it is not expressed

in the most effective way. sometimes it seems almost forgotten, but when the test comes, we see it is still there, helping men and women to understand each other in their common needs. it is our national religion, and prompted us witches is based on equal opportunity, equal protection, equal freedom for all. today, there are men and women in every field bending all their energies toward a realization of this dream of universal justice. they believe we are waging a war for democracy. can we afford to allow these men and women to doubt for a single instance the sincerity of our protestations of democracy? how shall we answer the challenge, gentlemen? how shall we explain to them the

meaning of democracy if the same congress that voted for war to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country? prolonged support from the galleries. they were full of her supporters. then a number of men praised rankin, but some stood opposed. one representative brought up rankin's emotional sentiment, "i cannot vote for war," as not giving women the right to vote. he said, "the sole female representative of women's suffrage in the house admitted not from judgment but her women's heart that while she loved her country, she could not vote for war. with the war still on, how would you like to see a majority of the membership of congress made up of women? this is no issue to be decided by women's fears and tears and emotions. this is an issue to be decided by the real, manly men of america. this is why i am opposing the

pending amendment. despite these reservations, the house voted to pass the amendment by the barest super majority needed. to celebrate, rankin was presented with the flag that flew over the house at the time of the vote. oops. the senate, however, did not pass that resolution, and rankin would leave congress before the

ratification of the 19th amendment. still, the earlier vote rankin had witnessed was an impressive first step in the march toward universal women's suffrage. on march 4, 1919, rankin gave a farewell speech. on her last day in the house, she told her colleagues in the chamber, "i am sorry to leave you before the women of this nation are enfranchised, that i leave with you the great trust of enfranchising the women of this country." in response, the members thanked her for her service. a fellow antiwar member submitted these remarks into the congressional record. "now and then, life reveals rare characters. in the 65th congress, no man showed greater courage or sacrifice. no one was readier to die a political death than the brilliant and accomplished lady from montana. if the voters of her state do not return her to the house or

senate at some later date, i feel sorry for them. the loss of her services is not only a loss to montana, but to the whole people." so, as it turned out, rankin left the membership of congress, but she did not leave congress or the nation behind. instead, she returned again and again to the capital to testify before the house and senate committees. in the 1920's and 1930's, rankin remained active in the peace and social welfare movements. she lobbied congress on behalf of herself or organizations seeking to prevent war, ban child labor, and improve working conditions. in 1920, she testified for the need to improve maternal health in rural areas. in 1921, she defended the

federal trade commission's ability to investigate industrial practices. in the 30's, as war loomed once again, she turned her attention back to antiwar concerns, representing the national council for the prevention of war at several congressional hearings. as she did so, she irritated more than one member of congress, who objected to her proposals. in a 1935 hearing entitled "taking the profits out of war," rankin stated, "i protested and voted against the earlier war, and i am still against war. the last war was a rich man's war. it was fought by the poor man. rankin made a radical suggestion -- on the declaration of war, congress must create a medium of exchange that would only be good during the war and that would legal tender during

the war and that would become illegal when the war ended. those who made profits would have nothing because they could not use the money that was made. i do not think that went over to well. in a senate hearing, i can objected to the amount of money used to promote the defendants industry. they run in the tens of millions. tremendous propaganda for war has to be cut down. in 1937, she advised congress to study military expenditures. she was reprimanded for her stance. amazed by the effort to organize the committee by a lobbyist. in 1939d, she returned

to provide congress -- to prevent congress from rolling back provisions. willing toat she is suffer the consequences of the loss of trade. those can be adjusted later. take hundreds of years to regain the standards we have now . if we fail to keep out war, civilizations have been lost in the past. in theuld be lost future. so all of this testimony set the second runankin's for congress. fordistrict she was running , the western first district had become more favorable for republicans and was not as a --den to the copper company as beholden to the copper company. rankin visited school after school calling for peace.

, the experience reminded her of a childhood memory. when a congressman visited her school in missoula, he addressed most of his remarks to the boys. he encouraged them to run for office. then he turned to the girls and said, "perhaps one day you will be the wife of the president of the united states." now in 1940, rankin told the schoolchildren, "one day, we will have a woman president." she continued, "there are opportunities for girls now and opportunities for boys, too." and she turned to the boys and said, "maybe one of you will be the husband of a president." she beat the republican incumbent and faced another former member of congress in the general election.she won reelection to the house, taking 54% of the vote. at the time, rankin predicted,

"no one will pay attention to me this time. there is nothing unusual about a woman being elected." now, she was described as a slight, white-haired woman. she charged her second term focused on stopping or blowing down the march toward war, but her amendments were not adopted. meanwhile, she traveled across the country, giving lectures in support of peace and neutrality. she was on her way to detroit. on the train, she learned of the attack on pearl harbor. she headed back to washington. years later, she recalled that sunday evening. after briefly returning to her office, she left before anyone could see her. in her words, "i got in my car and disappeared. no one could reach me. everyone tried to reach me and they couldn't. i drove around washington and got madder and madder." she did not seek anyone's

advice. "i was not going to put myself through that again. i just went out on my own." the next day, president roosevelt addressed a joint session of congress, calling for war. you all are familiar with his opening sentence. "yesterday, december 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of japan." he was equally clear in his concluding statement. "i asked that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by japan on sunday, december 7, a state of war has existed between the united states and

the japanese empire." immediately following the short speech, congress -- rankin stood and announced her objection, to which the speaker responded, "this is no unanimous request." one by one, they expressed their views. but he would not recognize rankin to speak, although she stood up quickly. she said, "please mr. speaker," but the speaker would not call on her. then the rollcall vote began. when rankin's name was called, she voted no. and she said, "as a woman, i cannot go to war, and i refuse to send anyone else." according to "the washington post," representative jeannette rankin fled and took a barrage of questions. surrounded on all sides, she called for a capitol police escort back to her office.

that was continued, "24 years ago, miss rankin voted against america's entry in the war against germany. then, her hair was black and her blue eyes were young, and she could turn forcomfort to the others who voted no with her. yesterday, she raised her voice alone." indeed, she truly was alone, as every senator also voted for war. rankin spent the afternoon in her office under police protection. two days later, she faced another vote.

she recorded herself as present, but refused to vote for or against the war. this time without any allies in congress, rankin faced the harsh criticism alone. newspapers reported her as disgraceful and disloyal. a newspaper in montana called her a fanatical woman who failed to see beyond the confines of her own perspective. rankin did have a few defenders, though. a teenage girl wrote to "the daily missoulan," "she hasthe right to free speech." an editor offered his opinion. "instead of booing rankin, americans should thank god they have her example. 100 men in congress would have liked to do what she did. it was a brave thing. when in 100 years from now, sheer courage based on moral indignation is celebrated in

this country, the name of jeannette rankin, who stood firm and folly for her faith, will be written in monumental bronze, not for what she did, but the way she did it." according to these defenders, rankin's solitary vote proved that america is a free society, a value worth fighting for. still, rankin's critics far outnumbered her supporters. telegraphs poured in all over the nation. "we feel that by your actions today, you have done a great disservice to the state of montana." "if you cannot act as a true and patriotic representative, we suggest you refrain from acting at all." indeed, it appears the telegraph sentiment prevailed. after the vote, rankin had no more great acts in congress. she finished the remainder of her term and left washington, this time without a doubt it was a war vote and not a copper company that sank her chances for reelection. she did not attempt a new campaign.

but she remained active in the peace movement and expanding rights across the globe. in the years after the second war vote, rankin visited countless countries, india, turkey, asia, africa, south america. she traveled by ships, railroads, buses, planes. age did not slow her down. in 1968 at the age of 87, fellow activists urged her to plan a march on washington in protest of the vietnam war. she was happy to oblige, and thus was born the jeannette rankin brigade. the reports varied. some said 3000 women. one declared 10,000 women assembled at union station to march to the capital building. women dressed in black mourning

clothes. young mothers pushed baby strollers. a dozen or so women walked up the capitol steps, petitions in hand, calling for the end of the war. the elderly rankin led a smaller number into the building to meet with senator mansfield from montana. as she did so, a police officer offered a steadying hand. a friend objected, "she can walk, she doesn't need you to help her." she nodded. "you don't need to help us. we are unarmed and not at all threatening. do you need those big guns to hinder an old lady?" but other antiwar protesters were extremely threatening. in fact, a couple months later, president lyndon johnson announced he would not run again, and many said this decision was due in part to the unpopular war in vietnam.

remarkably, rankin's march into senator mansfield's office was not her last trip to the capital. in 1969, she testified on behalf of the direct election of presidents. she wanted to eliminate the electoral college. in 1970, she returned to the rayburn building for her own 90th birthday party. now in a wheelchair, she reveled in the praise members of congress heaped on her. in 1985, montana sent a statue of her to the collection. now, rankin stands at attention, greeting thousands of schoolchildren as they stream in for tours of the capital. it depicts a bold woman, clear it depicts a bold woman, clear it depicts a bold woman, clear

eyes, boldly facing the future. the phrase "i cannot vote for war" is written across the statue. when these words were first uttered, they were called weak, nervous. now, they represent the courage of jeannette rankin, the first woman elected to congress and the only one to vote against both world wars. she has inspired countless members of congress who followed to achieve firsts of their own. they are likely to look back on jeannette rankin with fondness. i am going to show you a few pictures of notable female members of congress. not all, there are many, but just a few that were influenced by jeannette rankin. margaret chase smith. i could do a whole lecture on senator margaret chase smith.

shirley chisholm, first african-american member of congress. nancy pelosi, of course. barbara mikulski, who is my senator. the first female chair of the senate appropriations committee. and i wanted to recognize representative louise slaughter, first female chair of the powerful rules committee who passed away last week while she was still a member of congress, and i believe her funeral is tomorrow. she has inspired many people in her own right. so in conclusion, to paraphrase that montana editor in 1941, 1941, "now when sheer courage is celebrated in this country. the name of jeannette rankin is written in monumental bronze, not for what she did, but for the way she did it.

no, rankin could not vote for war, but she could and she did stand up for the democratic process." so thank you, and if you have any questions, i am happy to try and answer them. [applause] yep? >> did jeannette rankin encounter any retaliation for her participation in the suffrage movement? many other suffragists who participated were arrested and jailed for their activities, for protesting. jane: i didn't see any of that in the newspapers i surveyed. that is a really interesting question that i could look into. she did suffer a lot for being antiwar. she had some falling out with suffragists because of that. i never came across her being arrested or anything like that, but i could look into that further. >> i am interested in the

reaction of the other freshmen republicans. the two photographs you have, the one of the entire congress, and she is honored front and center. they all being gentlemen, of course. i wonder what the -- i am sure the others around her are the senior leaders, and the other freshmen are all stuck in the back. did anybody talk about that and her ability to command attention? jane: i am sure there were a lot of people who had their noses out of joint over that. i alluded to that, where she became the ranking member of a new committee, which is highly unheard of for a freshman at that time. i think a lot of people did realize she had such an unusual status that they couldn't expect her to have the same circumstances as anybody else. and a lot of the circumstances she faced were very negative.

not being able to have the bathroom or not getting the respect that a lot of the male freshmen would get. but she did also have the advantages as well, because when you have 435 and you are new, usually nobody knows who you are. but that was not the case for her. she came into the congress, everybody knew who she was. people all over the country had read the newspapers. so she came in with that advantage. yeah, there were probably some people who talked about it behind her back, but i did not see any particular quotations on that. >> [indiscernible] it is important to take a look at how long it is taken to even get some equality. the convention was established in the 2017 omnibus bill.

there will be a woman's commission all 50 states to celebrate the 100th anniversary. the house gym wasn't integrated for women until the 1990's. you talked about the restroom, backup my attention. y let the oldh the speaker's lounge became a women's lounge, and in 1980, there were still no restrooms near the house floor. it was not until nancy pelosi became the speaker, she took over the parliamentarian's office, which is right off the speaker's lobby, and equal access on the other side. so that is how long it took just for that. when you look at that in the house chamber, you see why it is so important to celebrate the 100th anniversary. my mother and mother-in-law were

born in 1920. women did not have any rights before the amendment passed. if you look back, some were just fighting for legal rights. animals had more rights in 1915 ,han women did in this country as far as cruelty and other things, so for her to be elected in that period is even more astounding, when you think about all that was not progressing. jane: i do think so. i think that she was elected before women had the vote nationwide is really impressive. and i think if she were able to see how far we have come today, i think she would be happy that we had a female speaker of the house, but i think in other ways she would be surprised that we have not come further along. so, you know, it would be a mixed bag for her.

she would see some advances and be happy about that bathroom, but in other ways, i think she would be mad. >> [indiscernible] yeah. so that one representative who was afraid that the majority of the house would be women. that hasn't happened yet. on one of your slides come , material for her campaign. one of them says, look for the name on the ballot. if you don't see it, ask the judge for elections. was their fear that precincts might omit her name? jane: i think so. i don't think that ended up being a problem. but it was a concern for her, and she was going to make sure everybody would know that it has to be there. but in the end, she did very well in her election. so i don't think it turned out to be a real problem.

>> a couple of questions. one is a technical question. you said in 1940 she was reelected. is that actually correct, even though if a congressman or woman service previously then gets elected -- jane: i have colleagues in the back who might be able to answer that. >> [indiscernible] jane: probably reelected -- elected again might be the better -- i would probably say she was elected a second time. later ifey reelected they serve again? jane: yes. >> ok. good. reelected. >> maybe a terrible question,

but did the legacy of franken play a role in the conservative voting patterns of americans clear into the 1960's? i was looking at women in congress in the 1960's. they reached 18 or 19 members in the house, both house and senate, the total members. somewhere in the middle 1960's, it felt to 11. that is a long time from 1917. is it possible rankin's legacy changed the national mood toward voting women to office for all those years? because the numbers never really took off. they even went down, amazingly, in the 1960's, before the next generation broke that.

jane: that is an interesting question. i don't know if it would be very easy to determine, because you have to look at intentions behind not only the people who did run, but the people who decided not to run. so i don't know if you can actually answer that. i know that her vote against the first world war upset a lot of people because they felt like it pulled back the possibility for women in both the suffrage movement and women who might want to be politicians. so there was this fear that that tamp down the movement of both suffrage and female politicians. that i think there would be many other factors to consider before i would say jeannette rankin was a part of that. >> except for the party affiliations and her multiple

votes on war and warmaking, you it seems like she and eleanor roosevelt would have been chums. did you find any of that? jane: it was important to note that at this time, you had the progressive republicans. a lot of people who were republican in the early 20th century probably would have become democrats leader on, and the progressive republicans and liberal democrats, they overlapped on a lot of issues. so, yeah, when you look at a lot of the women in the progressive movement, they were republican, but what they were fighting for was elimination of child labor and pulling up people's working conditions, so it is hard to say if one person was a republican or a democrat when you look back over the time when it had a different meaning. another thing about jeannette rankin is she never said i am a republican. she said i run on the republican ticket. so she was a very independent

person. her family was very involved in the republican party, and that is what influenced her to stay in the republican party. but she was not a big fan of parties. when she looked at the election process, she was clear in her testimony that she was not a fan of primaries and the way the primaries make people skewed to one side or another. she wanted everyone to have an equal chance of winning, no matter what party they were from. >> was she the first one to put on a serious campaign? jane: i believe so. as far as i know. there might have been people who tried running but didn't get anywhere in the process. but as far as major -- >> women could vote in all those states in the west, but they didn't run.

jane: yeah. any more questions? chuck: thank you again. [applause] jane: i am happy to answer questions if anyone has any individual questions they would like to ask. i appreciate everything. thank you, chuck. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] can view our tv schedule, view upcoming programs, watch lectures, and more. american history tv at c-span.org/history. connect with c-span2 personalized the information you get from us. go to c-span.org/connect and sign up for the email. the program guide is a daily

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