next on american history tv, congressional service analyst james armstrong talks about the life and legacy of suffragist, pacifist jeanette rank in. >> today we are here to listen to jane hudberg, an old friend of the society. your first -- i understand it, your first involvement with the capitol, falling in love with the capitol was a tour guy with the capitol guide service and jane was a writer, researcher for the senate history office. she was student programs operator and i'm still kicking myself to not offer the

beautiful dome of the annapolis state house and that's probably out of reach at this point and so happy to have her right in the madison building down the street. she's a regular request contributor to the dome and bootlegging in the capitol and she's really into digging out interesting little hidden corners of the capitol. jeanette rankin isn't a hidden anything. she's 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 jane today will share some new information with us so help me welcome jane. [ applause ] >> thank you, chuck. it is a great honor to be here and i've had a lot of great

experiences with the capitol historical society and thank you lauren and charlotte was helpful, as well. i also appreciate that some of my current leagues are here and my boss jim is here with other people from my new office and people from my old office, heather and mary from the senate historical office and even some people way back from the capital guiding days are coming up here. so thank you so much. i really appreciate the support and coming back even though we had a delay in this talk. so in this presentation i will be speaking about representative jeanette rankin. i will use a lot of quotations from her. some of these quotations i've condensed for the sake of brevity. my sources include newspaper articles and the congressional record. jeanette rank in's testimony with her biographer, and many of

the images come from the library of congress where they're available for the house historian which has 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 of the views discussed here are solely my own or attributed to the people that interacted with jeanette rankin over her lengthy lifetime. >> jeanette 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 only member of congress to vote against both world wars. in 1917 the house voted in favor of declaring war against germ

ney. rankin 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 and even confirmed pacifists joined the cause. indeed, it was december 8, 1941, just one day after the japanese attacked pearl harbor. under such circumstances, no legislator dared to vote against the legislation, and on this issue when the newspaper reported she raised her voice alone. so when the name jeanette rankin is recalled she's 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 and it is right to do so if these

two facts formed part of rankin's identity and 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 the fin congress until her death at the age of 92. she returned again and again to the capital, 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 rule possible in the democratic process and fought for others to do so as well. 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 towards rankin winning the house election in 1916. rankin was born in 1880 and raised on a ranch in

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 to the west to be a schoolteacher. her father was prominent in the community and state's republican party. like many of the other woman 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 some time before becoming fully emerged in the suffrage movement. she served as a organizer for the national american women's suffrage association,.traveling throughout western states, rankin gave speeches on women's

rights to vote. she spent most of her time in california working on that compensation, she planted her own roots, hired halls and bands to drum up the crowd. she put up posters, made speeches in front of saloons, and drew large numbers of people thought the towns and surrounding countryside. meanwhile, the montana state legislature was considering making women suffrage a referendum item, as chair of the montana suffrage, committee, rankin enlisted the support of politicians, male voters, and women who were not able to vote but nonetheless 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 reason why the eastern states were not following the western was because many of these states made it difficult to change the constitution's. often they require two thirds or three fifth votes to make any changes. so the majority of the seats male voters might support women's suffrage, but not have the super majority needed for the sake of changing 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 fifty three percent vote, the referendum passed in nineteen 1914. and as i said, rankin influenced that outcome by lobbying members of the

state of legislature as well as the public. -- 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 she had the financial support of her younger brother, wellington -- a well known montana republican in his own right who served as her campaign manager. rankin had one more advantage. she received a vast amount of free publicity as local, and national newspapers covered the race. reporters expressed a fascination with her campaign. in october of 1916, the montana enterprise declared jeannette rankin candidate for on the

republican ticket is making a phenomenal impression the new york sun reported has a rare personality, fiery intellect, rare perspective. meanwhile the seattle times made this conclusion. miss rankin is an excellent speaker, attractive in appearance, indeed she had hold 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. it meant that she had to travel long distances to reach far flung voted populations. she held rallies

in train stations, attended community suppers, and visited countless schools across the state. still in an era of political polling she had no idea that she had the support needed to win one of the two seats. in the end there she easily won the top slot in the primary, out earning the next competitors by seven thousand votes. indeed, many democratic women crossed to the republican primary in order to vote for her. on november 6th, 1916, rankin voted for herself in the primary 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 office. she did not 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. discouraged, rankin went to bed. finally, as newspapers reported, she actually 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. newspaper reporters flocked to missoula, many wanted to interview the president elect, profiles like the one picture hit newspapers across the nation. rankin would be able to handle the stress completely. 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 boos 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 and she expand the picture, how many of men were on the other 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, 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 capable team, but they had one enduring a difficulty. there were no bathroom facilities for women anyone 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 jeanette and her secretaries had to make their way for through a maze of corridors and 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, and we hear in 1917, the constitutional start of a new congress was march 4th. but the first session often did not commence for several months. president woodrow wilson 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 hotel. which was sponsored by members of the national american womenn's suffrage association. she spoke to the crowd and suffragists and child while fair activists. she says 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 capital, arriving to be sworn in, along with the other members of the 65th congress. so this is a little news clip

they had of the 65th opening day. you can see the jefferson building down in the background. 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 miss jeanette rankin, the lady from montana entered the hall.

one witness, the wife of a congressman, ellis, recorded the proceedings in her journal. she described in great detail, his 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 white white crepe color and cuffs. her skirt was a modest walking length and she walked well un-self consciously. her hair is a commonplace brown and arranged in a rather to spreading pompadour shadow in your face. she carried a bouquet of yellow and purple flowers, given to her at the suffrage breakfast. she didn't look to 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 rejoice to see that

she met each one with a big mouth, frank smile and shook hands cordially and an effectively. it would've been sickeningly if she had smirked or giggled or been cook at-ish. or still if she had been masculine and fellowish, but still, she was just a sensible young woman going about her business. when her name was called, the house sheared and rose so that she had to rise twice, which he did with entire self possession. the same day, rankin and her colleagues were sworn, and they joint protection of congress, calling for a war declaration. the next few days, friends and house members try 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 three 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, solving jeanette, montana's big timber pioneer newspaper claimed, she spoke with a sob and a voice scarcely audible. additional newspapers reported that she 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 must confront the difficulty that presents itself before the entire world at this

time. and jeanette wept. ranked her and others denied that she cried during the vote. indeed, one congressman called the story apocryphal. however, her voice most likely reflect a distress of a motion. 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, who was a time when strong men were unashamed of their emotion. an 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 she was supposed 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 to assist soldiers going into war. but she 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 were at regular columns in ladies home journal, slowing the kneel to keep women moving forward. and one call, and she disagreed with cause for women to support the war effort by hand grinding their own flower. carried along the waves of misguided patriotism have become subtle attempts to destroy the industrial standards of this country. she also fought for the rights of women who had married for man men. she introduced a bill which is not passed, that allowed women to keep their citizenship and their property after marrying aliens, and as a montanan, she knew many women who married canadians and in the process, off 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, she sought to expand democracy elsewhere. she introduced a resolution stating that the u.s. supported political independence in ireland. stating women realize the irish struggle because of the struggles that they have gone through for liberty and democracy. even while shiite national and international affairs, she still wrecked commended to strongly rule people in montana. she introduced measures to provide economic security for farmers and miners. for effort to assist miners on strike, perhaps, do any remaining chance for her to win a second term in the house. she took on

the powerful and iconic copper company. which was profiting heavily from wartime expenditures and according to her, blacklisting miners who saw more control over their working conditions. the company dominated the montana state legislature. that the companies urging, the legislator divided montana's at large district into two districts. and not surprisingly, her territory, the first district, now had a large democratic population. with her house seat in jeopardy, she ran for the senate in 1918, but she lost the republican primary. she ran as an independent in the general election below us that race as well. some would say wellington rankin's prediction had country, perhaps the sisters career was over with a no vote on the war. jeanette had one more major opportunity to take a stand in the next -- the last few months of her term. like-minded members argued for the creation

of the committee on women's suffrage, which formed soon after the election to consider an amendment to the constitution. before the end of her term, she served at the ranking member of that committee, which was an unusual honor, given the lack of her seniority. before a packed gallery on january 10th, 1919, she opened the debate. in this picture, notice the people wearing white, and that was the color of women's suffrage and where i am wearing a white shirt today, in honor of them. her speech connected to war with the need to expand democracy to women. mister speaker, she said, we are facing today, a question of political evolution. international circumstances and force this question to an issue. our country isn't a state of war. the nation has had a terrible shock. the result has been a sudden change in our national consciousness. to things we have for years, been taken for granted or only assuming a new significant. deep down, in the hearts of the american people, as 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, opening an expiring in helping men and women to understand each other

in their comedy. it is our national religion and it prompts and has the desire for that measure no 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 banding all their energies toward a realization of the stream of universal justice. they believe that 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 protests stations of democracy? how shall we answer the challenge, gentlemen? how shall we explain to them, the meaning of democracy, the same congress that voted for war, to make the world a safer democracy, refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country. prolong the pause for the galleries. and those galleries were full

of her supporters. but then a number of men's to the praise her and also to advocate for the amendment. but then some stood opposed. one representative brought her emotional sentiment, cannot vote for war as a reason not to give women the right vote. he said, that seoul female representative, a woman's suffrage in the house, miss janet admitted not from judgment but from 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. and this is why i'm opposing the pending amendment. despite these reservations, the house voted the path in by the pair of super nudge already needed, 274 to 1:36. it's to celebrate, she

was presented with the flag that flew over the house at the time of the vote. this summit did not pass that resolution. and she would leave congress [interpreter] and she would leave congress before the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. still, the earlier vote that she witnessed was a first step, a very impressive for step in the

march forward towards universal women suffrage. on march 4th, 1919, her last day in the house, she gave a farewell speech. she told her colleagues in the chamber, i'm sorry to leave you before the women of this nation are enfranchised, but i leave to you the men members of the congress, the great trust of enfranchising the women of this country. in response, members thanked her for her service, representative earnest along, be a fellow anti war member, submitted these remarks into the congressional record. now and then, life reveals where characters, which all she admire. in the 65th congress, and no member should greater courage in self sacrifice. no one was ready or 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, as 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 it turned out, she 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 19 twenties and thirties, she remained active in the peace and social welfare movements. she lobbied congress on behalf of herself or organization seeking to prevent, ward 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 thirties, 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, and several congressional hearings. and i cheated, social irritated more than one member of congress who objected to her proposals. and then 1935 hearing entitled, taking the profits out of war, she stated,

i protested and voted against the early war and i am still against this war. the last war was richmond's war. but it was the poor man who fought the war. nevertheless, the committee has not heard any poor man's ideas for taking the profits out of war. the committee chair responded. while now, let us hear your proposals. she then made a radical suggestion. on the declaration of war, congress which has the power must create a 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 that that money would become illegal at the moment the war ends. then of course, those who made profits would have nothing because they cannot use that money that was made. i don't think that one went over to well. in the senate hearing, she objected to the amount of money spent to promote the defense industry. she said, big invested interest in war get

contract from the government. the run in the millions and hundreds of millions, they spend in advertising just as every institution does. it is that tremendous propaganda for war that has to be cut down. and 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 lobbyists. 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 in 1939 to prevent congress from rolling back neutrality provisions. i'm interested only in keeping out of the war, she told the house committee. i'm willing to suffer the consequences of loss of trade, for their temporary can be

adjusted later. the loss for more 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 the second run of congress at the age of 60. at the time, she still had two separate districts that only has now by the way. but the district she was running for the 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 congress, she visited school after school calling for peace. the experience reminded her of a childhood memory. when a congressman who visited her school in mezula, he addressed

most of his remarks to the boys. you think encouraged to run for office, then he turned to the girls and said, perhaps one day, you'll be the wife of a president of the united states. now in 1940, she told the school children, someday, will have a woman president. hearing the hoops 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, should be the republican incumbent, then faced another former member of congress in the general election. supported by progressive republicans, including senator robert lookalike, she won reelection to the house, taking 54% of the votes. at the time, she predicted, no one will pay any attention to me at this time. there is 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 and support of peal ice and neutrality. on december 7th, 1941, she was headed 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 an 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 caught matter and matter. when 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 why not doing. and 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 sense. yesterday, december 7th, 1940, one a day which will ville live in infamy. the united states of america was suddenly and deliberative li attacked by naval and air forces of the empire fan. he was equally clear and his concluding's estate meant. i asked that the congress declare that since the unprovoked industrially attack by japan on sunday december 7th, a state of war has existed between the united states and the japanese empire. immediately following that short speech, the joint session dissolved and the house we assembled to consider a state of war in japan. the clerk read the war resolution, rankin stood and announced her objection to which speaker sam responded, this is no unanimous consent request. no objection

is in order. then 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. i one point, radio stations called her saying, please mister speaker, but the speaker would not call on her. then the roll call vote began. when rankings 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 hisses. according to the washington post, at this point, representative jeannette rankin of montana led almost and terror and took shelter in a telephone booth against a barrage of photographers flashbulbs and reporters questions. surrounded on all sides, she called for a capitol police escort back to office. the post continued. 24 years, ago she voted against americas 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 vote alone. and indeed, she truly was alone has every senators also voted for war. she spent the afternoon in her office under police protection. two days later, she faced another war vote on december 11th, she recorded herself as president but refused to work for or against the war against germany. this time, without any allies in congress, she faced a harsh criticism alone. newspapers reported her is disgraceful and disloyal. the montana messenger called her a fanatical woman who failed to see beyond the confines of her own perspective. she did have a few defenders though. a teenage girl wrote to the daily ms. rolling in, whether we agree with that women are not, she had to god given right to stand

up and claim her right of free speech. editor of the hallinan people's voice offered his opinion. instead of pulling her, americans should instead think about that they had before them, her splendid example of courage and conviction. another montana editor wrote, probably 100 man in congress would have liked to do which he did. and i them had a courage to do. it entirely disagrees with the wisdom of her position. but lord, it was a brave thing. one in 100 years from now, courage, sheer courage based on moral indignation is celebrate in this country, the name of jeanette who stood firm and falling for her faith, will be written and monumental bronze, not for what she did, but for the day way she did it.

according to these defenders, she's the solitary vote in opposition to war, prove that america is a free society, a value worth fighting for. still, her critics for outnumbered her supporters. telegraph sporting from montana and all over the nation. once 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 could not 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 telegraph sentiment prevailed, after the vote, she 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 some core chances at 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, she

visited countrie -- 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 who urged rankin to plan a march on washington and protest of the vietnam war. she was happy to oblige. and thus was born, the jeanette rankin brigade. the reports varied. some said 3000 women, some said 5001 even declared that 10,000 women assembled at union station to march to the capital building on a cold overcast january day. 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 capital steps, petitions in hand, calling for the end of war. the elderly -- even smaller number into the building to meet with senator mike mans field, the majority leader from montana. as she did

so, a police officer offered a steadying hand. her friend objected. she can walk, you don't need to help her. she 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 her group another 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 and vietnam. remarkably, her margin to senator men's field office was not her last trip to the capital. in 1969, she testified before congressional committees on behalf of the direct collection of presidents. she wanted to eliminate the electoral college in the primary system and set up a system that would allow voters to rank their preferences. and in 1970, she returned to the rayburn building for own 90th birthday party. i want a wheelchair and

sporting a signature wig she, reveled in the prairies, members of congress heaped on her. indeed, even after her death at 93 jeannette rankin just cannot stay away from the capital. in 1985, montana sent a statue of rankin to the statue collection. now she stands at attention in the capital center, greeting thousands of schoolchildren as they stream in for tours of the capital. the phrase i cannot -- for war is written across the statue. base when the words for first, uttered they were called week, timid, aside 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 since inspired countless members of congress to achieve firsts of their, own thousands are likely to look back at her with fondness. they may view her as daring, outspoken, not week and emotional. i will show you a few pictures of notable members of congress, female, not all, just a few influenced by jeannette rankin. the first woman to serve in the house and congress. i could do a whole series of lectures on senator margaret smith. shirley chisholm, the first african american women in congress, and beloved. nancy pelosi of course. barbara, my senator for many, many years. the first

female chair of the senate appropriations committee. and i wanted to recognize, representative louise, first female chair of the power rules committee who passed away last week while she was still a member of congress. and i believe that her funeral is tomorrow. she has inspired many people in her own right. so in conclusion, to paraphrase the montana editor in 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 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] >> did jeannette rankin receive

any retaliation for participation in the suffrage movement? because so many other suffragists who participated were arrested and jailed for their activities, for protesting. >> i did not 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, she had some falling out with suffragists because of that. but i never came across her being arrested or anything like that but i could look into that further. >> yeah, sure. >> i'm interested in the reaction of the other freshman republicans. the two photographs that you have, they're the one of the entire congress, there and she is honored front and center, they all being gentlemen of course, i am sure that the others

around her are the senior leaders. and the other freshman are all stuck in the back. did anyone talk about that and her ability to command attention? >> i'm sure there are a lot of people that had their noses out of joint over that and i alluded to when she became the ranking member of the 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 a unusual status that they could not expect her to have the same circumstances anybody else. a lot of the circumstances she faced were very negative. not being able to go to the bathroom, we're not getting the respect that a lot of the male freshman would get. but she did also have the advantages as well. when your 435 members and you are brand-new, usually nobody knows

who you are. but that was not the case for. her she came into the congress. everyone knew who she was. people all over the country had read the newspaper. so she came in with that advantage, and there are probably some people who talked about it behind their back, but i did not see any particular quotations to pull on that. >> as we approach the anniversary of the first amendment it is important to illustrate how long it has taken to get to some quality, some of the issues, the women's commission was established in the 1917, 2017 there will be a women's commission in the 50 states, the 100th anniversary. the house gym wasn't integrated

for women until the 1990s. that really got to my attention. so finally, you know, they left the old speakers lounge, it became a women's land. in 19, 80 still no restroom on the house floor. it was not until nancy pelosi became speaker, she took over the parliamentarians office which is right off of the speakers lobby. and equal access on the other side is the men's, and you know, so that is how long it took just for that you know, when you look at that and the house generally, you see why it's so important to celebrate the 100th anniversary. -- were born in 1920, women didn't have any rights, if you look back. the suffragists were fighting for rights. animals had more rights in 90 15, as far as cruelty and other things. so

for her to be elected in that period is just more outstanding when you look at that, not progressive. >> i think that she was elected before women had the nation wide, it's really impressive. i think that if she were able to see how far we have come today i think that she would be happy that we had a female speaker of the house. but i think another way she would be surprised that we have a come further along. so you know, it would be a mixed bag for her she sees mixed advances. should be happy about the bathroom. but in other ways, she'd be mad. there was one representative who was afraid that the majority of the house would be women. that hasn't happened yet.

>> i noticed on one of your slides for her campaign, one of them said look for the name on the ballot, if you don't see it, look for the name on the ballot. was there some fear that she would just have her name omitted? >> i think so. i don't think that was a problem but that was a concern for her. she wanted to make sure that everyone would know it has to be there. in the end, she really did very well in her election. so i don't think it turned out to be a real problem. >> a couple questions. one is a technical question. you said in 1940, you said i think she was reelected. is that correct? if a congress woman or man has served previously, then gets

elected. >> actually i have colleagues in the back that might be able to answer that from the crs. probably reelected, elected again is probably, elected again would be the better way of putting it. >> i would probably say that she was elected a second time. >> are they reelected later if they serve again? yeah. reelected later. >> okay good. secondly, maybe a terrible question, but did the legacy of rankin play a role in the very conservative members ability to clear into the 1960s. i was looking at women in congress in the sixties. they reached eighteen and nineteen members of those just above the house. we're talking about both the house in the

senate, total numbers. somewhere around the 1960s it topped to eleven. now that is a long time from nineteen seventeen. is it possible rankin's legacy also affected the whole national move towards voting women to office for all of those years, because those numbers really never took off. they took off in the sixties, until the next generation broke that. >> that's an interesting question. i don't know if it would be very easy to determine, even if i looked into it, because you would have to look at intentions behind not only the people who did run, but also 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 of women, both in the suffrage movement, and women who might want to be politicians. so there was this fear that the vote could take down both the movements and senior politicians, but i think there would be many, many factors to consider before i say that jeannette rankin was a part of that. >> except for the party affiliations, and jeannette's multiple votes on war, it seems like she and eleanor roosevelt would have been chums. did you find any of that? >> it's important to note that at this time you had the progressive republicans. a lot of the people who were republican in the early twentieth century probably

would have become democrats later on. the progressive republicans and the moderate democrats overlapped on a lot of issues. 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, elimination of child labor, pulling up peoples working conditions. so it's hard to say if one person was republican or democrat when you look overtime win that had a different meaning. another thing that jeannette rankin was, she never said i'm a republican, she said i run of the republican ticket. so she was a very independent person. her family was very heavily involved in the republican party. 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 for presidents, a direct election in the 1960s

she was clear in her testimony that she was not a fan of primaries, the way that primaries can skew to one side or the other. she wanted everyone to have an equal chance of winning no matter what party they were from. >> she was the first one. elected but she the first one put on a serious campaign? >> i believe. so as far as i know, there could have been people running, didn't get far in the process. >> women could vote in the west but they didn't run. >> yeah. >> again, please help yourself to the food. it's in the back of the room. thank you again. >> i'm happy to answer any questions if anybody has any individual questions they would 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 into the 21st century. this online event was hosted by the national constitution center which provided the video. >>