next on american history tv, congressional research service analyst jane armstrong hudiburg talks about janette rankin, the first woman elected to congress. the u.s. capitol historical society hosted the event. >> today we're here to listen to jane hudiburg, an old friend of the society. your first, as i understand it, your first involvement with the capital, falling in love with it like all of us, was a tour guide with the capitol guide service. then jane was a writer, researcher for the senate

history office. she was student programs coordinator for the maryland general assembly in annapolis, and i'm still kicking myself for not following up on her offer to tour the dome at the statehouse. that's probably out of reach at this point because now she's in d.c. with the congressional research service. we're happy to have her right in the madison building down the street. she's a regular contributor to our dome. the latest article she submitted was in an issue a couple years ago on bootlegging in the capital. she's really into digging out hidden corners of the capitol. now, ms. rankin isn't a hidden anything. all of us know who she is. she's got a statue and it's precisely those kinds of 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 she'll share today some new information with us

that she's come across. so, help me welcome jane. >> thank you, chuck. it's rally a great honor to be here. i've had a lot of great experiences with the capitol historical society. thank you, lauren and charlotte was really helpful as well. i also appreciate that some of my current colleagues are here and my boss, jim, is here with other pool from my new office and also people from my oels office, heather and mary from the senate historical office, even some people way back from my capitol guiding days are coming up 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 i've condensed for the sake

of brevity. my sources are newspaper articles, the congressional record, her testimony before committees in congress, and her interviews with her biographer, hannah josephson. many of the images come from the library of congress' available f the house historian, which has a great website, by the way. if anyone is interested in the source material, i'm happy to provide more information after the talk. i am currently an analyst on congress for the congressional research service, but all the views discussed here are solely my own or are 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 to the house in 1916 four years before the ratification of the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote nationwide. she's also known as the only

member of could think to vote against both world wars. in 1917 the house voted in favor of declaring war against germany. rankin, along with 49 male members, voted in opposition. at the time she received harsh criticism for her vote and left congress at the end of her first term. rankin 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. indeed, the war vote occurred on december 8th, 1941, just 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 rankin's 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 capitol to testify, to protest. she continued to fight for the rights of others, whether they were women, children or 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 and her experiences in and around the capitol, 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 toward rankin winning the house election in 1916. rankin was born in 1880 and raised on a ranch near missoula, montana, as the oldest of seven children. far from being isolated on the frontier she grew up with means, as you can see from the size of her family home. her father john was a rancher and a building contractor and her mother had 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 had joined the suffrage movement, rankin went to college, first the university of montana, then the famous new york school of philanthropy for social 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 woman's suffrage association, travels

throughout western states rankin 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 routes, hired halls and bands to drum up the crowd, she put up posters, made speeches in front of is a loons 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 who were unable to vote but were nevertheless necessary backers of the measure. she even 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 in 1889.

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 in chicago. part of the problem why the eastern states weren't following the western was because that many of these states made it difficult to change their constitutions. often they required two-thirds or three-fifth votes to make any changes. so a majority of a state's male voters might support women's such raj, but not have the super majority needed for the state to change the voting status for women. so an amendment to the constitution was needed to make the change for the remaining states. montana, though, was able to give women the vote by law by a

53% vote their referendum passed in 1914 and as i said, rankin influenced that outcome by lobbying members of the state legislature as well as the public. two years later at the age of 36 rankin ran as a republican for congress to repay the women who had 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 she had the financial support of her younger brother wellington, a well-known montana republican in his own right, who also served as her campaign manager. rankin had one more advantage, she received a vast amount of free publicity as both local and national newspapers covered the race. the reporters expressed a fascination with her campaign. in october of 1916, the montana

enterprise declared jeannette rankin, candidate for congress on the republican ticket, is making a phenomenal campaign all over the state. the new york sun reported, she has a rare personality, a fine intellect an an unusual perspective. mean while, the seattle times made this conclusion, ms. rankin is an excellent speaker, attractive in appearance and a skilled politician. indeed, she had already honed her political skills by lobbying politicians all over the country 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 that the at large arrangement gave her another advantage, she had more statewide recognition than her competitors, but it meant she had to travel long distances to reach far flung voting populations. she held rallies in train stations, attended community

suppers 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, though, she easily won the top spot in the primary, outearning the next competitor by 7,000 votes. indeed, many democratic women crossed to the republican primary in order to vote for her. on november 6, 1916, rankin proudly voted for herself in the general election. as the polls closed, she couldn't take the tension 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 didn't tell the reporter her identity. first she asked about woodrow wilson's reelection and then almost offhandedly how did jeannette rankin run? oh, she lost, was the reply. so discouraged, rankin went to

bed, but as finally the newspapers reported, she actually won by more than 7,000 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. newspaper reporters flocked to missoula, many wanted to interview the representative-elect. profiles like the one pictured hit the newspapers across the nation. some writers, though, wondered if rankin would be able to handle the stress of being not only the first woman in congress, but the only woman in congress. while 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 a deliberative body made up of 434 women and himself? no, he concluded, a man in that position would have his courage ooze from the palms of his hands. to give you an idea of what it was like for her as the only female, jumping ahead to when she sat for this portrait of the 65th congress. so here she is in the center surrounded on all sides by men, but look at it when you actually expand the picture, how many men were on either 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 capitol. before she was sworn in, rankin hired two women staffers who she

had known and who also lived with her for a time. these women became trusted aides, they would serve every function. they were secretaries, researchers, correspondents, policy advisers. indeed, rankin and her staff formed quite a capable team, but she had one enduring difficulty, there were no bathroom facilities for women anywhere near the house chamber or rankin's office. according to rankin's biographer, as it had seemed inconceivable that women would ever be elected to congress, no provisions had been made for them and jeannette and her secretaries had to make their way through a maze of corridors and stairways to reach the public accommodations. and this was a dispute that went on for decades after rankin as well, by the way. so at the time, and we're here in 1917, it the constitutional start of a new congress was

march 4th, but the first session often did not commence for several months. president woodrow wilson, though, soon called congress into special session to consider the war in europe generally and specifically german submarine attacks on atlantic shipping vessels. the special session started on april 2nd, 1917, the day rankin would be sworn in. that morning rankin was the guest of honor at a breakfast at the shore hotel which 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 shall make mistakes and it means a great deal to me to know that i have your encouragement and support. then she was driven to the headquarters of the association where she spoke from the balcony addressing the crowd. from there she proceeded to the capitol, arriving to the sworn in along with the other members

of the 65th congress. so this is a little newsclip they had of the 65th opening day. you can see the jefferson building dome in the background. i believe -- so that day the house chambers' galleries were packed. suffragists and other curious observers peered over the railing to see rankin enter the room. reporters described the scene. men and women in the galleries

pounded hands together and yelled themselves hoarse. members did the same on both sides of the chamber when ms. jeannette rankin, the lady from montana, 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. she wore -- let me go back a couple. she wore a well-made dark blue silk and chiffon suit with open neck and wide white creped collar and cuffs. her skirt was a modest walking length and she walked well and unself-consciously. her hair is a commonplace brown and arranged in a hearth two spreading pomp do remember shadowing her face. she carried a bouquet of yellow an purple flowers given to her at the suffragist breakfast. she didn't look right to 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 rejoiced to see that she met each one with a big mouth drank smile and shook hands cordially and unaffectedly. it would have been sickening if she had been masculine, but, no, she was just a sensible young woman going about her business. when her name was called the house cheered and rose so that 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 a joint session of 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, they said, would risk the suffragist cause. it would also risk rankin's

political career. knowing her anti-war views, rankin's own brother, wellington, warned her. after the vote there will be nothing. still rankin held firm. at 3:00 in the morning on april 6th the final 17-hour debate wound down. the clerk prompted each member to vote. ignoring the first roll call rankin responded the second time she heard her name. i want to stand by my country, she said, 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 entitled "sobbing jeannette montana's big timber newspaper" claimed rankin spoke with a sob and a voice scarcely audible. additional newspapers reported that rankin shed tears as she voted prompting an angry

pennsylvania state legislator to declare, this is the time for agitation. this is the time when we all with sober minds must confront the difficulty that presents itself before the entire world at this time and jeannette rankin wept. rankin and others deny that she cried during the vote. indeed, one congressman called the story -- however, rankin's voice most likely reflected the stress of great emotion. she knew that 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 montana newspaper, it was a time when strong men were unashamed of their emotion. the hour perhaps of the country's greatest crisis. and while the public forgave congressmen who openly wept, the lone congresswoman was not given the same consideration. it's important to note that while rankin was opposed to war, she did support measures to prosecute the war.

once congress votesed to go to war she wanted the u.s. to win. in the weeks following the war vote she voted on measures to assist soldiers going into war, but rankin was concerned that 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 effort 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 had married foreign men. she introduced a bill which did not pass that would have allowed women to keep their citizenship and their property after marrying aliens. as a montanan she knew many

women who married canadians and in the process lost their citizenship, including their new right to vote, even though they had never stepped foot outside of montana. while she was fighting for women throughout the country, rankin sought to expand democracy elsewhere. she introduced a resolution stating that the u.s. supported political independence in ireland. stating women realized the irish struggle because of the struggle they have gone through for liberty and democracy. even while she eyed national and international affairs, rankin still represented the largely rural people of montana. she introduced measures to provide economic security for farmers and miners. her effort to assist miners on strike, perhaps, doomed any remaining chance for rankin to win a second term in the house. she took on the powerful ant conned da copper company which was profiting heavily from wartime expenditures and according to rankin

black-listing miners who sought more control over their working conditions. the company dominated the montana state legislature. at the company's urging, the legislature divided montana's at-large district into two districts and not surprisingly rankin's territory, the first district, now had a large democratic population. with her house seat in jeopardy, rankin ran for the senate in 1918 but she lost the republican primary. she ran as an independent in the general election, but lost that race as well. some would say wellington rankin's prediction had come true, perhaps his sister's career was over with the no vote on the war. jeannette rankin, however, had one more major 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 woman's suffrage which formed soon after the election to consider an amendment to the constitution. before the end of her term

rankin served as the ranking member of that committee which was an unusual honor given her lack of seniority. before a packed gallery on january 10th, 1919, rankin opened the debate. in this picture notice the people wearing white and that was the color of woman's suffrage and why i'm 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, she said, we are facing today a question of political evolution, international circumstances have forced this question to 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 have for years been taking 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 find it still there, groping and aspiring and helping men and women to understand each other and their common need. it is our national religion and it prompts in us the desire for that measure of justice which is based on equal opportunity, equal protection, equal freedom for all. today there are men and women in every field of endeavor who are bending all their energies toward a realization of this dream of universal justice. they believe that we are wager 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 applause from the galleries. and those galleries were full of her supporters. but then a number of men stood to praise rankin and to also advocate for the amendment, but then some stood opposed. one representative brought up rankin's emotional sentiment, i cannot vote for war, as a reason not to give women the right to vote. he said, that seoul female representative, a woman suffrage in the house, ms. jeannette rankin, admitted not from judgment but from her woman'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 and 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 274-136. to celebrate rankin was presented with the flag that flew over the house at the time of the vote. the senate, however, did not pass that resolution and rankin would leave congress before the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. still, the earlier vote that rankin witnessed was a first step, a very impressive first

step in the march toward universal women's suffrage. on march 4th, 1919, rankin's last day in the house she gave a farewell speech. she told her colleagues in the chamber, i am sorry to leave you before the women of this nation are enfranchised, but i leave to you, the members of the 65th congress, the great trust of enfranchising the women of this country. in response members thanked her for her service. representative ernest lundean submitted these remarks into the congressional record. now and then life reveals rare characters which all must admire. in the 65th congress no member showed greater courage and self-sacrifice, no one was readier to die a political death for principle than the brilliant and accomplished lady from montana. if the voters of her state do not return her to the house or the 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 house and senate committees. in the 1920s and '30s 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 time prove maternal health in rural areas. in 1921 she defended the federal trade commission's ability to investigate industrial practices. in the '30s as war loomed once again in europe she turned her attention back to anti-war 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 this war -- or i am still against war. the last war was a rich man's war but it was the poor man who fought the war. nevertheless the committee has not heard any poor man's ideas from taking the profits out of war. the committee chair kmonded, well, now, let us hear your proposal. rankin then made a radical suggestion. on the declaration of war, congress which has the power must create a money or medium of exchange that would be good only during the war and that would be the only legal tender, the only legal money during the war and that that money would become illegal at the moment the war ends. then of course those who made profits would have nothing but they could not use that money

that was made. i don't think that went over too well. in a senate hearing rankin objected to the amount of money spent to promote the defense industry. she said big vested interests in war get contracts from the government that run in the millions and tens of millions and hundreds of millions. they spend in advertising just as every other institution does. it is that tremendous propaganda for war that has to be cut down. in 1937 she advised congress to study military expenditures. the chairman of the house committee on foreign affairs reprimanded her stance. we are somewhat amazed when an effort is made to organize another committee by a lobbyist. we do not appreciate it and i think i speak the sentiments of this committee when i say that. undaunted, she returned in 1938 and 1939 to prevent congress from rolling back neutrality provisions. i'm interested only in keeping out of the war she told a house committee. i am willing to suffer the consequences of loss of trade

for they are temporary, can be adjusted later. the loss from war is permanent. the pace of progress is always slowed and it may take hundreds of years to regain the standards we have now, both moral and material. if we fail to keep out of war, civilizations have been lost in the past, they can be lost in the future. so all of this testimony set the stage for rankin's second run for congress at the age of 60. at the time montana still had two separate districts, it only has one now, by the way. but these -- the districts she was running for the western first district had become more favorable for republicans and was not as beholden to the copper company. famous for her status as the first woman in congress 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 a president of the united states. now in 1940 rankin told the school children some day we will have a woman president. hearing the hoots from the boys, she continued, there are opportunities for girls now and opportunities for boys, too. and then she turned to the boys and she said, some day one of you may be the husband of a president. in the primary she beat the republican incumbent, then faced another former member of congress in the general election. supported by progressive republicans including senator robert lafolock she won reelection to the house taking 54% of the votes. at the time rankin predicted no one will pay any attention to me

this time, there's nothing unusual about a woman being elected. now she was described as a slight white-haired woman. she charged into her second term focused on stopping or at least slowing down the march toward war, but her amendments to military measures were not adopted. meanwhile, she traveled across the country giving lectures in support of peace and neutrality. on december 7th, 1941, she was heading to detroit to speak. on the train she heard of the news of the attack on pearl harbor. she got off the train in pittsburgh and 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. nobody could reach me. wellington tried. everybody tried to reach me and they couldn't. i just drove around washington and got madder and madder. once she returned she did not seek her brother's advice or the advice of anyone else.

>> i wasn't going to put myself through that again she said and i wasn't going to put others through it, trying to persuade me and then my not doing t 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 7th, 1941, a day which will live in infamy, the united states of america was suddenly and deliberatively attacked by naval air forces of the empire of japan. he was equally clear -- he was equally clear in his concluding statement, i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by japan on sunday, december 7th, a state of war has existed between the united states and the japanese empire. immediately following the short speech the joint session resolved and the house

reassembled to consider a war with japan. rankin stood and announced her objection to which the speaker said this is no unanimous consent. no objection is in order. one by one members expressed their views on entering the war but speaker rayburn would not recognize rankin to speak although she stood up quickly each time another member sat down. at one point radio stations called her saying, please, mr. speaker, but the speaker would not call on her. then the roll call vote began. when rankin's name was called she stood once more in a firm and clear voice she voted no and then said, as a woman i can't go to war and i refuse to send anyone else. the galleries erupted in boos and misses. according to the washington hospital at this point representative jeannette rankin of montana fled almost in terror and took shelter in a telephone booth against a barrage of photographers, flash bulbs and

reporters questions. surrounded on all sides she called for a capitol police escort back to her office. the post continued, 24 years ago ms. rankin voted against america's entry in the war against germany. then her hair was black and her blue eyes were young. then she could turn for comfort to the 49 other members of the house 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 war vote. on december 11th rankin recorded herself as present but refused to vote for or against the war with germany and italy. this time without any allies in congress, rankin faced the harsh criticism alone. newspapers reported her as disgraceful and disloyal. the glasgow montana messenger called her a fanatical woman who failed to see beyond the confines of her own warped

perspective. rankin did have a few defenders, though. a teenage girl wrote to the daily ms. unionian. whether we agree with that woman or not she had the god-given right to stand up and claim her right of free speech. the editor of the helena people's voice said americans should thank god that they have before them her splendid courage and conviction. another montana editor wrote probably 100 men in congress would have liked to do what she did. not one of them had the courage to do that. the gazette entirely disagrees with the wisdom of her position, but, lord, it was a braving thing. when 100 years from now shear 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 d but for the way she did it.

according to these defenders rancor's solitary vote in opposition to war proved that america is a free society, a value worth fighting for. still rankin's critics far outnumbered her supporters. telegraphs poured in from montana and all over the nation. one said, we feel that by your action today you have done a great disservice to the state of montana and to the american people. if you cannot act as a true and patriotic representative in a time of national peril, we suggest you refrain from acting at all. indeed, it appeared that the telegraph sentiment prevailed. after the vote rankin had no more great acts as a member of congress. she finished the remainder of her term and left washington. this time without a doubt it was the war vote and not a copper company that sunk her chances at reelection. rankin 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, all over europe, asia, africa, south america, she traveled by ships, railroads, cars, buses, planes. she grew older but age did not slow her down. in 1968 at the age of 87 fellow peace activists urged rankin 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. some said 3,000 women, some said 5,000 and some said 10,000 women assembled to march to the capitol. women dressed in black mourning clothes, older women were in wheelchairs, young mothers pushed baby strollers. of that group a dozen or so women walked up the capitol steps, petitions in hand, calling for the end of war.

the elderly rankin led an even smaller number into the building to meet with the majority leader from montana. as she did so a police officer offered a steadying hand. rankin's friend objected. she can walk, you don't need to help her. rankin nodded, she said, you don't need to worry about us, we are unarmed and not at all threatening. do you really need those great big guns to handle an old lady? but actually rankin's group and other anti-war protesters were in fact extremely threatening. in fact, a couple months later president lyndon johnson announced that he would not run again and many people said this decision was due in large part to the unpopular war in vietnam. remarkably rankin's march into senator mansfield's office was not her last trip to the capitol. in 1969 she testified before congressional committees on behalf of the direct election of presidents. she wanted to eliminate the

electoral college and the primary system and set up a system that would allow voters to rank their preferences. in 1970 she returned to the rayburn building for her own 90th birthday party, now in a wheelchair and sporting a signature wig, she reveled in the praise members of congress heaped on her. indeed even after her death at 93 jeannette rankin just could not stay away from the capitol. in 1985 montana sent a statue of rankin to the capitol's national statuary hall collection. now she stands at attention in the visitors center greeting thousands of school children as they stream in for sturs of the capitol. the figure depicts a gold woman with clear eyes calmly facing the future. the phrase i cannot vote for war is written across the bronze statue's base. when she is words were first uttered they were called weak, timid, a sign of nervous

hysteria. decades later they represent the courage and conviction of jeannette rankin, the first woman elected to congress and the only member to vote against both world wars. rankin has inspired countless members of congress who have gone on to achieve firsts of their own. the powerful women of today and tomorrow are likely to look back at jeannette rankin with fondness. they may view her as daring and outspoken not weak or emotional. i'm going to show you a few of the pictures of the notable female members of congress, not all, there are many, many, but just a few who were influenced by jeannette rankin. margaret chase smith. first woman to serve in both the house and congress and i could do a whole lecture or series of lectures on senator margaret chase smith. shirley chisolm, first african-american woman in congress and beloved. nancy pelosi, of course.

barbara mikulski who was my senator for many, many years, first female chair of the senate appropriations committee. and i wanted to recognize representative louise slaughter, first female chair of the powerful house 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, now when courage, shear 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'm happy to try to answer them.

[ applause ] >> did jeannette rankin encounter any retaliation for her participation in the suffrage movement? because so many other suffragists who participated and were arrested and jailed for their activities, for protesting. >> i never -- i didn't see any of that in the newspapers that i surveyed. that's a really interesting question that i could look into. she did suffer a lot for being anti-war and she had some falling out with suffragists because of that, but as far -- i never came across her being arrested or anything like that, but i could look at that further. >> many suffragists were for their activities. >> i'm interested in the reaction of the other freshmen

republicans. the two photographs that you have there, the one of the entire congress there and she is honored front and center, they all being gentlemen of course. i wonder what the -- i'm sure that 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. >> i'm sure there were a lot of people who had their noses out of joint over that and 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, though, that she had such an unusual status that she couldn't expect her to have the same circumstances as anybody else. a lot of the circumstances she faced were very negative, not being able to have a 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 members and you are brand-new usually nobody knows who you are, but that was not the case for her. she came into that congress, everybody knew who she was. people all over the country had read the newspapers. so she came in with that advantage and, yeah, there are probably some people who talked about it behind her back, but i didn't see any particular quotation toss pull up on that. >> as we approach the 100th anniversary of the [ inaudible ] amendment it's important to look at how long it's taken to get to some equality on so many issues. the women's commission was established in the 1917 omnibus bill -- i mean, the 2017 omnibus bill and there will be a woman's commission in every of the 50 states to celebrate the 100th

anniversary. the house gym wasn't integrated for women until 1990s and you talked about the restroom, that's what really got my attention. so finally, you know, they left the old speaker's lounge off the statuary hall become a woman's lounge and there were 86 women this 1980, still no restroom near the house floor. it wasn't until nancy pelosi became speaker that she took over the parliamentarian's office which is right off the speaker's lobby and equal access on the other side is the men's for 200 years and, you know, so that's how long it took just for that, you know, and you look at that and the house gym and other things and you see why i think it's so important to celebrate the 100th anniversary. my mother and mother-in-law were born in 1920, women didn't have any rights before that amendment

passed, actually. if you look back suffragists were fighting for legal rights. animals had more rights in 1915 than women did in this country. as far as cruelty and other things. so for her to be elected in that period is just even more astounding, you know, when you think about all that was not progressive. >> yeah, i do think so. i think she was elected before women had the vote nationwide is really impressive. and i think that if she were able to see how far we've 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 haven't 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. she liked to say --

>> [ inaudible ]. >> uh-huh. yeah. that one representative who was like afraid that the majority of the house would be women, that hasn't happened yet. >> on one of your slides material for her campaign that one of them said, you know, look for the name on the ballot, if you don't see it ask the judge for elections. was there really some fear that precincts might just omit her name? >> yeah, i believe so. and i don't think that ended up being a problem, but it was a concern for her and she was going to make sure that everybody would know that it has to be there. but in the end she really did very well in her election. so i don't think that it turned out to be a real problem. >> a couple. one is just a little technical question on your language.

you said in 1940 she was -- i think you said -- reelected. is that actually correct? if a congresswoman or man has served previously s out of office for a while then gets elected -- >> actually, i have colleagues in the back who might be able to answer that from crs. probably reelected is not -- elected again would probably -- yeah, elected again might be the better -- >> you've been very clear -- >> you are the expert. >> i thought you would be on that one, too. >> okay. yeah. i would probably say that she was elected a second time. yeah. >> i'm just saying are they reelected later if they serve again -- >> they're reelected later. >> they're reelected. >> okay. good. reelected. secondly, this may be a terrible question, but did the legacy of rankin play a role in the very

conservative voting patterns of americans clear into the 1960s? because i was looking at women in congress in the '60s, they had reached 18 and 19 numbers of those -- just about the house -- no, i'm talking about both house and senate, the total numbers. somewhere in about the middle of 1960s they fell to 11. that's a long time from 1917. is it possible rankin's legacy also affected the whole national mood toward voting women -- voting women to office for all those years? because the numbers never really took off and they even went down amazingly in the '60s before suddenly the next generation broke that pattern. >> that's an interesting question. i don't know if it would be very easy to determine. even if i really looked into it. because you would 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 they pulled back the possibility of women both in the suffrage movement and women who might want to be politicians. so there was this fear that that vote to have tamped down both the movements of suffrage and female politicians, but i think there were many, many other factors to consider before i would say jeannette rankin was a part of that. >> except for the party affiliations and jeannette's votes on the -- multiple votes on war and war making, it seems like she and eleanor roosevelt would have been chums. did you find any of that?

>> well, it's really important to note that at this time you had the progressive republicans and a lot of the people who were republican in the early 20th century probably would have become democrats later on and the progressive republicans and the 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, you know, child -- elimination of child labor and polling of people's working conditions. it's hard to say if one person was a republican or democrat when you look back over the time when it had a different meaning. another thing about jeannette rankin was she never said i'm a republican. she said i run on the republican ticket. so she was very independent person. her family was very heavily involved in the republican party and that's what influenced her to stay in the republican party,

but she was not a big fan of parties and when she looked at the election process for presidents to make it a direct election in the 1960s, she was clear in her testimony that she wasn't a fan of primaries and of having like the way the primaries kind of make people skewed to one side or the other, she wanted everybody to have an equal chance of winning no matter what party they were from. >> she was the first one elected. was she the first one to put on a serious campaign? >> i believe so, yeah. as far as i know there might have been people who tried running but just didn't get anywhere in the process. but as far as major -- >> so women could vote in all of those states in the west but they didn't run? >> yeah. >> please help yourself to the food in the back of the room.

thank you again. [ applause ] >> thanks. and i'm happy to answer any questions if anybody has any individual questions they'd like to ask. i appreciate everything. and thank you, chuck. next, a discussion on congress, political parties and polarization from the time of america's founding through the civil war and