Women in Congress: An Introduction
The 2006 Edition and the Women in Congress Web Site
In early 2001, Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio introduced House Concurrent Resolution 66 for the printing of a revised edition of the book. The resolution, which passed the House on April 4, 2001, and was agreed to by the Senate on April 24, 2001, authorized the Library of Congress to compile “an updated version” of Women in Congress, 1917–1990. In late 2001, the Library of Congress transferred the project to the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. In July 2002, the Office of History and Preservation (OHP) was created under the Clerk, and OHP staff began working on the publication soon afterward.
The 2006 edition of Women in Congress provides the basis for this Web site, which was developed by the Office of Publication Services under the Office of the Clerk. In scope, structure, and concept, the 2006 edition of Women in Congress differs substantially from its predecessors. In 1992, the year after the previous edition was published, 28 women were elected to Congress—more than the total number of women who were elected or appointed to Congress in any previous decade. From 1991 to 2005, nearly 100 women were elected to Congress—roughly 40 percent of all the women who have served in the history of the institution.20 Also, congressional women became more diverse in the latter part of the 20th century. Patsy Mink, elected in 1964, was the first non-Caucasian woman elected to Congress and one of just four Asian-American Congresswomen. Only five African-American women had served in Congress before 1990; New York Representative Shirley Chisholm was the first in 1969. Between 1990 and early 2007, 21 black women were elected to Congress, including Carol Moseley-Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate. The first Hispanic-American woman elected to Congress, in 1989, was Florida Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Seven more Hispanic-American women were elected in the next 15 years.
The dramatic growth, changing characteristics, and increased influence of women Members, is reflected in the former Members’ profiles which have been expanded (averaging 1,500 words), with an emphasis on congressional service. The profiles of a few outstanding House and Senate careers exceed 2,000 words, and the profiles of widows who served brief terms—and for whom the record is fragmentary at best—range from 550 to 750 words. Each profile consists of a brief section on the Member’s precongressional career, followed where possible by a detailed analysis of the subject’s first campaign for congressional office; subsequent re-election efforts; information about committee assignments, leadership, and major legislative initiatives; and a brief summary of the Member’s postcongressional career.
Bibliographic information is provided at the end of each profile, and where applicable, information about the location of a Member’s manuscript collection is included at the end of their individual profiles. Manuscript information has been drawn from House and Senate records used to compile and maintain the online Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress at http://bioguide.congress.gov. The editors have referenced Members’ major manuscript collections and other repositories with significant holdings, i.e., the transcript of an oral history or extended correspondence. This information is intended to be a resource for the general reader and a starting point for the scholarly researcher.
Additionally, contextual essays, describing four successive generations of Congresswomen, analyze political and institutional developments affecting women’s participation in Congress. Appendices include tables on women’s committee assignments, leadership positions, and familial connections in Congress. Photographs of each Member are included.
This Web site also includes pages for each of the current Members, including images and links to their individual online Biographical Directory entries and official biographies on their House Web sites. Publication on the Web will permit the editors to update the site to add new women Members—such as the 11 who were elected to the House and Senate, after the print publication went to press in the late summer of 2006. Additionally, this Web site provides two features not available in the book: educational activities designed for teachers and students based on essays and profiles; and a section on House Collection artifacts related to the history of women in the House.
Footnotes
- Mildred Amer, “Women in the United States Congress, 1917–2004,” CRS (1 July 2004).