Subjects –
Familial Connections
Representative Ruth Bryan Owen of Florida
October 02, 1885
On this date, Florida Representative Ruth Bryan Owen was born in Jacksonville, Illinois. The daughter of famed orator William Jennings Bryan, Ruth Owen sought and won election to the 71st Congress (1929–1931) in 1928.
Representative Mae Ella Nolan of California
January 23, 1923
Mae Ella Nolan of California, widow of Labor Committee Chairman John I. Nolan, was elected to the U.S. House as an Independent, filling her late husband’s vacant seat at the end of the 67th Congress (1921–1923).
A historic trio of women Members
February 15, 1923
On this date, Representatives Alice Robertson of Oklahoma, Mae Nolan of California, and Winnifred Mason Huck of Illinois posed on the front steps of the House entrance of the U.S. Capitol.
Representative Katherine Byron of Maryland
May 27, 1941
From a rural, largely Democratic Maryland district, Katherine Byron narrowly won the special election on this date to her late husband’s seat in the House of Representatives.
The 1946 House elections
November 05, 1946
Riding widespread discontent with the postwar economic policies of the Harry Truman administration, Republicans on this date recaptured majority control of the House from Democrats for the first time in 15 years.
Representative Vera Buchanan of Pennsylvania
November 26, 1955
On this date, Representative Vera Buchanan of Pennsylvania passed away during her third term in the House, becoming the first Congresswoman to die in office.
Representative Shirley Pettis of California
April 29, 1975
On this date, Shirley Pettis of California won the special election to fill the vacancy caused by the untimely death of her husband Jerry Pettis in an airplane crash.