In the first blog post in this series, we introduced women who were trailblazers within their own local communities. Those Famous Firsts don’t often get mentioned in history books. However, their impact has reached farther than these women could have imagined. Today, we’ll introduce a few more women who made lasting impacts within their states, from having the courage to run for a position in Congress to being elected Governor. These women’s achievements continue to positively impact our political systems and inspire women to run for office to this day. 

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first woman to run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Although she was not eligible to vote, in 1866 she ran as an Independent in New York State. While Stanton only received 24 votes of the 12,000 cast, she was a true champion in the suffrage movement throughout the United States. She frequently collaborated with Susan B. Anthony, the leader of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton constantly provoked discussion on the question of women’s rights throughout her life, including during her run for the U.S. House. She opened the possibility of women running for Congress, and today we have more than 100 women in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress as a Representative from Montana in 1916. Prior to her election, she was deeply involved in politics as a suffragist. Rankin ran a nonpartisan campaign during the first election cycle where Montana women were able to cast a vote in a federal election. Although fellow suffragists worried that her outspokenness would cause the entire national movement to suffer, Rankin stuck to her ideology, focusing on both pacifism and social welfare throughout her terms, one in 1917 and another in 1940. She was the only member of Congress that voted against U.S. participation of both World War 1 and World War 2. At the time of her death in 1973, at the age of 93, Rankin was considering another run for a House seat to protest the Vietnam War.

In 1922, Rebecca Latimer Felton became the first woman to serve in the United States Senate. But Felton only served for twenty-four hours. She was appointed during a special election because she was not seen as a competitor for Governor Thomas W. Hardwick. It was just a campaign strategy by male senators to temporarily fill the vacant seat while also securing the new women voters in Georgia without having to publicly support the 19th Amendment. Felton was sworn in when the Senate reconvened on November 21, 1922, gaining the title of first woman Senator. The next day, a man replaced her. Until her death in 1930, Felton dedicated her entire life to white women’s suffrage: even though she held a historic position, she was abhorrently racist. Until January 2020, Felton was the only woman to have served as Senator from Georgia. 

It is important to note that all of the women that have been mentioned thus far in both “‘Famous Firsts” blog posts have been white women. Although these women were able to make strides for women for the rest of American history, their personal efforts were focused on white women. From the suffragist movement to feminist conversations today, Black women and women of color have been often left out of the conversation. So, although these women are Famous Firsts, it is necessary to note that they were not always fighting for complete equality for all women in the United States.

Soledad Chacon defied odds when she became the first woman of color elected to statewide office in the United States as Secretary of State of New Mexico only two years after the 19th Amendment secured women the right to vote. Chacon served in this position from 1923 to 1926. Later in life, she was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives. Chacon was able to make great strides as a woman of color in a cabinet position. During her term, a woman was elected to the highest position within any U.S. state. 

In 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the 14th elected governor of Wyoming, and the first woman to be sworn in as a governor of any U.S. state. She defeated her opponent in a special election and succeeded her husband, the incumbent, who died just prior to the election. Ross was an extremely active governor, stressing the need for farmer tax relief and revising state-wide budgets prior to taxing residents of Wyoming. She backed a measure to prevent bank failures and incorporated the examination of officials into the governor’s duties. Ross was narrowly defeated for reelection in 1926. But her career in politics was not over. She went on to serve as vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee and was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Director of the U.S. Mint, the first woman to hold that position, as well. Nellie Tayloe Ross died in 1977 and is still the only woman to have served as governor of Wyoming. 

WPLN prides itself on empowering all women, with an emphasis on diverse center-right women because they are often the least represented in public office. We’re excited to be a part of the conversations required to help move our country to a truly representative democracy. These women made history and caused great change within their states, but we acknowledge that the conversation must broaden to include women of all backgrounds and beliefs. This conversation is not limited to just women supporting women—it extends to men supporting women. In the next post, we will be introducing women that were able to make waves in the national arena.