Jeannette Pickering Rankin, the first woman ever elected to
Congress, took her seat in the U.S. Capitol as a representative
from Montana.
Born on a ranch near Missoula, Montana Territory, in 1880,
Rankin was a social worker in the states of Montana and
Washington before joining the women’s suffrage movement
in 1910.
Working with various suffrage groups in 1914, she campaigned
for the women’s vote on a national level and was instrumental
in the passage of suffrage legislation in Montana.
Two years later, she successfully ran for Congress in Montana
on a progressive Republican platform calling for total women’s
suffrage, legislation protecting children, and U.S. neutrality in
the European war.
Following her election as a representative, Rankin’s entrance
into Congress was delayed for a month as congressmen
discussed whether a woman should be admitted into the
House of Representatives.
![mrshively [licensed for non-commercial use only] / Jeannette Rankin](https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.c0715bb455cf1164db71597cefbe4849?rik=yBDBlgrsfnvLlw&riu=http%3a%2f%2fmrshively.pbworks.com%2ff%2f1393456884%2f7398078184_7d7e3ee83e_z.jpg&ehk=ADL78pjnZsX6OSVauJ%2fICHOuorveMhMrsXb15pyBP7I%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0)
Bronze statue of Rankin inside the Montana
State Capitol in Helena.
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