Artifacts
Early in her career, Cecil Murray Harden of Indiana stated the “the more interest you take in politics, the more you meet your responsibilities as a citizen.” A Republican who represented her Indiana district from 1949–1959, Harden encouraged her party to add women’s issues to their platform, and co-sponsored a 1957 equal pay for women bill. The choice of the thimble for a campaign hand-out suggests Harden’s targeting of women voters and hopes for engaging them as fully as possible as citizens.
Cecil Harden Campaign Thimble, c. 1953, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives