38 Facts About Harry Lane

Harry Lane was an American politician in the state of Oregon.

In November 1912, Harry Lane was elected to the United States Senate where he was a leading advocate for women's suffrage and a more benevolent relationship between the American government and the nation's Native American population.

Harry Lane voted against American participation in World War I in April 1917, an action which made him the prospective subject of a recall effort.

Harry Lane was born in Corvallis, Oregon, a small town on the banks of the Willamette River, on August 28,1855.

Harry Lane was the son of Eliza Jane and Nathaniel Lane.

The elder Harry Lane was a successful participant in the California Gold Rush of the late 1840s who had returned to Oregon to invest his mining proceeds in construction of a lumber mill.

Nathaniel's brother, Lafayette Harry Lane, was elected a member of the Oregon Legislature and United States Congress.

Harry Lane continued to attend the public schools of Corvallis, graduating from Corvallis High School.

In 1878, Harry Lane earned a medical degree from Willamette's medical school and then continued his medical education with postgraduate work at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.

Harry Lane returned to Oregon after completing his post-graduate education, which included time spent in New York, Europe, and San Francisco.

Harry Lane put down roots and opened a medical practice in the state's largest city, Portland, where he would eventually serve as the president of city, county, and state medical societies.

In 1887, Harry Lane was tapped by Governor Sylvester Pennoyer to become the superintendent of the Oregon State Insane Asylum.

In 1891 Governor Pennoyer responded to political pressure critical of Harry Lane and forced him to resign his post at the hospital.

Harry Lane returned to medical practice in Portland, working for the next decade as a "poor people's doctor," frequently on a pro bono basis.

Harry Lane was "better at making friends than making money," his widow later recalled.

Harry Lane was won over to the ideas of direct democracy and political reform that were part and parcel of the Progressive Era in the United States.

The campaign was unsuccessful but Harry Lane was bitten by the "political bug" and other electoral efforts were soon to follow.

In 1905, Harry Lane ran for the non-partisan position of Mayor of Portland.

Harry Lane attempted to govern the city as a social reformer but he frequently found himself the holder of an ineffective veto pen, as saloon and corporate interests continued to control the agenda of the Portland City Council.

Harry Lane took a further step for the advance of women's rights when he swore in Lola Baldwin to the Portland Police Bureau as one of the first female police officers in the United States on April 1,1908.

Harry Lane was an advocate of direct democracy and led an unsuccessful voter referendum to establish municipal ownership of the Portland electric system.

Intent on proving himself a man of the people, Harry Lane set what might be a record for campaign frugality in his victorious effort, with his entire race run for the princely sum of $75 plus travel expenses.

Harry Lane was known for frugality as a congressman, and did not conform to the modern stereotype of the free-spending liberal.

Harry Lane was reported as being "the most inquisitive man in Congress" when it came to federal appropriations, and was known as "the human question mark" by his colleagues in the Senate.

Harry Lane's daughter herself was a member of the Socialist Party of America, as was her husband, the journalist Isaac McBride.

McBride remained active in the anti-militarism activities of the Socialist Party even while working for Harry Lane and was the intermediary between "Big Bill" Haywood of the Industrial Workers of the World and Harry Lane, gaining the Senator's help in an unsuccessful effort to spare the life of IWW cause celebre Joe Hill.

Harry Lane regarded the last of these as his most important work, criticizing longstanding government policy aimed at "civilizing" the Native American population.

Harry Lane was a leading advocate for the woman suffrage movement, introducing resolutions in its behalf.

Harry Lane supported government ownership of the national telephone and telegraph networks, the merchant marine, and certain mining corporations.

Harry Lane challenged white supremacist Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia on the floor of the Senate to acknowledge the successes of black farmers in the American South and protested instances of racial discrimination inserted into appropriations legislation.

Harry Lane was skeptical about American claims of violation of property rights by the government and insurgent movements in Mexico and was an outspoken opponent of imperialism and for the national independence of the Philippines.

Late in 1915 Harry Lane joined Socialist US Representative Meyer London of New York in co-sponsoring a resolution criticizing the deepening sense of war-related fear and calling upon President Woodrow Wilson to convene a conference of neutral nations with a view to ending the European conflict.

Harry Lane was an outspoken opponent of Wilson's plan to arm merchant ships, arguing that the conservative Democratic President was thereby attempting to usurp the Congressional prerogative to declare war and to replace it with Executive authority.

Harry Lane was a chronically ill person in 1917, suffering from Bright's disease or advanced arteriosclerosis.

Nevertheless, on April 4,1917, against the advice of doctors, Harry Lane made his way to the Senate floor to vote against the Declaration of War against Germany which had been the product of an April 2 speech by the President.

Shortly after the vote Harry Lane's health gave way and he collapsed.

Harry Lane died in San Francisco en route to Portland on May 23,1917.

Harry Lane was buried at Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland and Charles L McNary was appointed to finish Lane's term.