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Women in the Senate

MCSmith_LBJ
Senators Smith and Neuberger confer with Lyndon Johnson, ca. 1967. (Senate Historical Office)


Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia, the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, took the oath of office on November 21, 1922. Having been appointed to fill a vacancy, Felton served for just 24 hours. The 87-year-old Felton's largely symbolic Senate service capped a long career in Georgia politics and journalism.

The first woman elected to the Senate was Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas. Appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, U.S. Senator Thaddeus Caraway, Ms. Caraway then sought and won election on her own in 1932. She was reelected in 1938 and served until 1945.

To date, thirty-five women have served in the United States Senate, with sixteen serving at this time (indicated in bold print below).

Women in the Senate

Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-Georgia), 1922

Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D-Arkansas), 1931-1945

Rose McConnell Long (D-Louisiana), 1936-1937

Dixie Bibb Graves (D-Alabama), 1937-1938

Gladys Pyle (R-South Dakota), 1938-1939

Vera Cahalan Bushfield (R-South Dakota), 1948

Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine), 1949-1973

Eva Kelley Bowring (R-Nebraska), 1954

Hazel Hempel Abel (R-Nebraska), 1954

Maurine Brown Neuberger (D-Oregon), 1960-1967

Elaine S. Edwards (D-Louisiana), 1972

Muriel Humphrey (D-Minnesota), 1978

Maryon Allen (D-Alabama), 1978

Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kansas), 1978-1997

Paula Hawkins (R-Florida), 1981-1987

Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), 1987-

Jocelyn Burdick (D-North Dakota), 1992

Dianne Feinstein (D-California), 1992-

Barbara Boxer (D-California), 1993-

Carol Moseley Braun (D-Illinois), 1993-1999

Patty Murray (D-Washington), 1993-

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), 1993-

Olympia Jean Snowe (R-Maine), 1995-

Sheila Frahm (R-Kansas), 1996

Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), 1997-

Susan Collins (R-Maine), 1997-

Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas), 1999-

Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York), 2001-

Deborah Stabenow (D-Michigan), 2001-

Maria E. Cantwell (D-Washington), 2001-

Jean Carnahan (D-Missouri), 2001- 2002

Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), 2002-

Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina), 2003-

Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), 2007-

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), 2007-

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Women in the House of Representatives


 
  

Historical information provided by the Senate Historical Office.


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Events:
  First Woman Senator
  A Woman Presides over the Senate
  A Declaration of Conscience