[On January 12th, 1932, Hattie Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate. So for the 90th anniversary of that historic occasion, this week I’ve AmericanStudied Caraway and a handful of other political women. Leading up to this crowd-sourced weekend post featuring responses & nominations from fellow AmericanStudiers—add yours in comments, please!]
Responding to Tuesday’s
Jeannette Rankin post, Amanda Mecke
tweets, “There was much space between Lindbergh
and GOP Isolationists and a sincere pacifist like
Rankin no doubt, but her unsupported stance after the destruction of the fleet
in Pearl Harbor meant she offered no acceptable alternative not just to war
mongers but even Quakers etc.” She follows up, “I think the agonizing choice of
Quakers
who fought in WWII provides interesting contrast
to Rankin’s political choices among 3 US prongs: US anti-Semitism; recognized
pacifism only for organized religions like Quakers or Amish; & both right
wing & liberal anti-Stalin discomfort.”
Rebecca Fachner
(one of our most badass contemporary political & public history voices)
writes, “Rankin was such a boss. She knew the vote against WW2 would cost her
the next election and did it anyway. True courage.” She adds, “Also, she’s the
only woman in American history to vote to give women the vote. She’s just so
great.”
Responding
to Friday’s
Shirley Chisholm post, Winston Smith
shares this video
“for those of us who have never experienced the power of Shirley Chisholm.”
One
of my favorite podcasters, Kelly
Therese Pollock, shares this Sagas
of She episode where she talked
about Chisholm.
Responding to
the series’ subject overall, Irene
Martyniuk writes, “I think it is always
important to consider all the women who serve at the local level in
politics—for instance, our now-retired colleagues Judy Budz and Margarite Landry who have served and continues to serve on various committees
in their town or my sister who also sits on various committees in her township.
‘All politics is local’ and these women (all of whom serve without remuneration
or fanfare) are vital pieces in American democracy.”
Some great Twitter additions to the conversation:
M.A. Davis tweets, “Ruth Bryan Owen deserves to be better-remembered. Largely in the same memory
hole as her dad but an important figure in women’s
politics.”
Tiffany Wayne shares “a piece I wrote back in 2016 about
another woman who ran for President back in the 1970s, part of a series of blog posts
by Nursing Clio called ‘Run like a Girl.’”
Spring Semester
previews series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Other political women or moments you’d highlight?
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