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

for instance, for women -- for a very long time, the early women members of congress from jeanette rankinorld war ii very purposefully, with the exception of rankin, did not embrace what you would call a women's rights agenda. in fact, they tried to minimize gender distinctions. they felt that was the best way to work their way into the hierarchy. it's the same way with the hispanic-american members up until chavez and the post world war ii period. there is the tension to the degree you're going to act as a surrogate representative. henry gonzalez was a co-founder of the congressional hispanic caucus in late '76, but he is so turned off by activists and particularly la raza, which attacked him in the late '60s and early '70s, he questions tactics used by activists and he eventually questions the legislative agenda the caucus moves to in the '80s. to the point where at some point in the '80s, at some point, he stopped paying his dues. he is no longer on the caucus records. there's absolutely -- we have yet to find the press article that says, "today, henry gonzalez left the hispanic caucus

congressional research jane hudiburg talks about the life and legacy of jeanette rankin. the first woman elected to congress. the u.s. capital historical society hosted the event, it is about 55 minutes. >> today we are here to listen to jane hudiburg, front of the society. your first us understand involvement with the capital,