40 Facts About Jeannette Rankin

Jeannette Pickering Rankin was an American politician and women's rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States in 1917.

Jeannette Rankin was elected to the US House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916; she served one term until she was elected again in 1940.

Jeannette Rankin championed a multitude of diverse women's rights and civil rights causes throughout a career that spanned more than six decades.

Jeannette Rankin was born on June 11,1880, near Missoula in Montana Territory, nine years before the territory became a state, to school teacher Olive and Scottish-Canadian immigrant John Jeannette Rankin, a wealthy mill owner.

Jeannette Rankin was the eldest of six children, including five sisters and a brother, Wellington, who became Montana's attorney general and later, a justice on the Montana Supreme Court.

One of her sisters, Edna Jeannette Rankin McKinnon, became the first Montana-born woman to pass the bar exam in Montana and was an early social activist for access to birth control.

Jeannette Rankin helped maintain the ranch machinery and once single-handedly built a wooden sidewalk for a building her father owned so it could be rented.

Jeannette Rankin studied at the University of Montana and, in 1902, received a bachelor of science degree in biology.

At the age of 27, Jeannette Rankin moved to San Francisco to take a job in social work, a new and developing field.

Jeannette Rankin returned to Montana and rose through the ranks of suffrage organizations, becoming the president of the Montana Women's Suffrage Association and the national field secretary of NAWSA.

Jeannette Rankin coordinated the efforts of a variety of grassroots organizations to promote her suffrage campaigns in New York and Montana.

Jeannette Rankin later compared her work in the women's suffrage movement to promoting the pacifist foreign policy that defined her congressional career.

Jeannette Rankin believed, as did many suffragists of the period, that the corruption and dysfunction of the United States government resulted from the lack of women's participation.

Jeannette Rankin traveled long distances to reach the state's widely scattered population.

Jeannette Rankin rallied support at train stations, street corners, potluck suppers on ranches, and remote one-room schoolhouses.

Jeannette Rankin ran as a progressive, emphasizing her support of suffrage, social welfare, and prohibition.

Jeannette Rankin finished second in the voting, defeating Frank Bird Linderman, among others, to become the first woman elected to Congress.

Jeannette Rankin's election generated considerable nationwide interest, including, reportedly, several marriage proposals.

Jeannette Rankin used her office to push for better working conditions for laborers.

Jeannette Rankin tried to intervene, but mining companies refused to meet with her or the miners, and her proposed legislation to end the strike was unsuccessful.

Jeannette Rankin had greater success pushing for better working conditions in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Jeannette Rankin listened to the grievances of federal workers in the bureau, which included long hours and an excessively demanding work pace.

Jeannette Rankin continued to lead the movement for unrestricted universal enfranchisement.

Jeannette Rankin was instrumental in the creation of the Committee on Woman Suffrage and became one of its founding members.

In January 1918, the committee delivered its report to Congress, and Jeannette Rankin opened congressional debate on a Constitutional amendment granting universal suffrage to women.

Jeannette Rankin lived a simple life there, without electricity or plumbing, although she maintained a residence in Montana.

Jeannette Rankin made frequent speeches around the country on behalf of the Women's Peace Union and the National Council for the Prevention of War.

In 1937, Jeannette Rankin opposed President Franklin Roosevelt's proposals to intervene on the British side against Germany and its allies, arguing that both sides wished to avoid a second European war and would pursue a diplomatic solution.

Jeannette Rankin testified before multiple Congressional committees in opposition to various preparedness measures.

When it became clear that her lobbying efforts were largely ineffective, Jeannette Rankin resigned from her NCPW position and declared her intention to regain her seat in the House of Representatives.

Jeannette Rankin began her campaign for Congress in 1939 with a tour of high schools in Montana.

Jeannette Rankin arranged to speak in 52 of the First Congressional District's 56 high schools to reestablish her ties to the region after years of spending much of her time in Georgia.

Once again, Jeannette Rankin enjoyed the political support of her well-connected brother Wellington, even though the siblings had increasingly divergent lifestyles and political views.

Jeannette Rankin was appointed to the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on Insular Affairs.

Jeannette Rankin mobilized again in response to the Vietnam War.

Jeannette Rankin led 5,000 participants from Union Station to the steps of the Capitol Building, where they presented a peace petition to House Speaker John McCormack.

Jeannette Rankin died on May 18,1973, at age 92, in Carmel, California.

Jeannette Rankin bequeathed her estate, including the property in Watkinsville, Georgia, to help "mature, unemployed women workers".

In 1993, Jeannette Rankin was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Opera America commissioned a song cycle about Jeannette Rankin called Fierce Grace that premiered in 2017.