"I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won't be the last." - Jeannette Pickering Rankin

[redqueen]

The first woman in the US Congress was elected in Montana, on March 4, 1916.

...

In 1910 she returned to her home state to fight for the passage of the newly introduced suffrage bill. Working for the Montana Equal Franchise Society, Rankin became the first woman to speak before the Montana legislature, saying that she was suspicious of a government that would tolerate a lack of female representation. Four years later, Montana granted women the right to vote. After her election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Rankin took her seat in an emergency session of Congress, called by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 to discuss American involvement in the European war. Under pressure from women's groups, Rankin voted a tearful "no" to war — which may have contributed to her loss in a Senate race the following year. In 1941, maintaining her pacifist stance, she merely said "present" during the vote to declare war against Germany and Italy, which effectively ended her political career, though she continued to travel the world promoting peace, women's rights and electoral reform.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2025265_2025267_2025303,00.html

[shenmue]

1. Hooray!

Wish I could have lived then.

[ismnotwasm]

2. This needs a kick