HATTIE OPHELIA WYATT CARAWAY
SURPRISES DEMOCRAT POLS
Little Rock, Arkansas (JFK+50) On January 12, 1932, the first woman was elected to the United States Senate. She was Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway*, Democrat from Arkansas. Ms. Caraway first replaced her late husband, Thaddeus Caraway, by appointment of the governor.
Party pols were surprised, however, when Ms. Caraway announced her intentions to run for a full term in 1932. She said...
"Time has passed when a woman should be placed in a position and kept there...while someone else is being groomed for the job."
Senator Caraway became the first woman to preside over the Senate and the first woman to chair a Senate committee. She voted for every New Deal proposal except those dealing with racial issues. Ms. Caraway was re-elected in 1938 but failed to win re-nomination in 1944. FDR then appointed her to serve on the Federal Emergency Compensation Commission.
*Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway (1878-1950) was born in Bakersville, Tennessee. She earned a BA Degree in 1896 from Dickson Normal College. As a U.S. Senator she was sometimes criticized for not being very vocal on the Senate floor. Critics dubbed her "Silent Hattie".
SOURCE
"Caraway, Hattie Wyatt, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress", www.bioguide.congress.gov/
SURPRISES DEMOCRAT POLS
Little Rock, Arkansas (JFK+50) On January 12, 1932, the first woman was elected to the United States Senate. She was Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway*, Democrat from Arkansas. Ms. Caraway first replaced her late husband, Thaddeus Caraway, by appointment of the governor.
Party pols were surprised, however, when Ms. Caraway announced her intentions to run for a full term in 1932. She said...
"Time has passed when a woman should be placed in a position and kept there...while someone else is being groomed for the job."
Senator Caraway became the first woman to preside over the Senate and the first woman to chair a Senate committee. She voted for every New Deal proposal except those dealing with racial issues. Ms. Caraway was re-elected in 1938 but failed to win re-nomination in 1944. FDR then appointed her to serve on the Federal Emergency Compensation Commission.
*Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway (1878-1950) was born in Bakersville, Tennessee. She earned a BA Degree in 1896 from Dickson Normal College. As a U.S. Senator she was sometimes criticized for not being very vocal on the Senate floor. Critics dubbed her "Silent Hattie".
SOURCE
"Caraway, Hattie Wyatt, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress", www.bioguide.congress.gov/
Hattie Wyatt Caraway
