[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 36 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3225-S3226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  ILLINOIS' WOMEN IN CONGRESS, 1920-90

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, in 1992, Illinoisians made history by 
electing the first African-American woman to the U.S. Senate, our 
distinguished colleague, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun.
  For that landmark election and for other reasons, Illinois can take 
pride in the women our State has sent to Congress in this century. 
Philip A. Grant, Jr., a professor of history at Pace University in New 
York City, recently documented this record in a paper he presented at 
the Illinois History Symposium in Springfield, IL. I ask that it be 
printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

                 Congresswomen From Illinois, 1920-1990

                       (By Philip A. Grant, Jr.)

       The purpose of this paper will be to review the careers of 
     the various women elected to Congress from the State of 
     Illinois between 1920 and 1990. During this eventful period 
     of seven decades, a total of nine women won congressional 
     seats in Illinois.
       Two of the nine Illinois congresswomen were members of 
     prominent political families. These two ladies, Winnifred 
     Mason Huck of Chicago and Edna O. Simpson of Carrollton, were 
     Republicans whose tenures on Capitol Hill were rather brief.
       Huck decided to run for the position of Congressman-at-
     Large shortly after the death of her father, William E. 
     Mason, on June 16, 1921. Mason, subsequent to having been a 
     member of both Houses of the Illinois Legislature, had served 
     fourteen years in Congress. On November 8, 1992 Huck was 
     elected to complete the unexpired portion of her father's 
     term in the House. Although she enjoyed the distinction of 
     becoming Illinois' first woman to enter Congress, Huck's 
     actual experience was limited to the fifteen weeks between 
     November 20, 1922 and March 3, 1923.
       Simpson was the wife of Representative Sid Simpson, who 
     spent eight terms in the House and was a former Chairman of 
     the Committee on the District of Columbia. A solid favorite 
     to win a ninth term, Simpson suddenly died on October 26, 
     1958. At the urging of Republican leaders in Illinois' 
     Twentieth Congressional District, Mrs. Simpson agreed to be 
     the party's candidate in the 1958 general election. On 
     election day she handily defeated her Democratic opponent, 
     carrying twelve of the district's fourteen counties. Although 
     she represented a heavily Republican constituency, Mrs. 
     Simpson opted to retire in 1960.
       Two other ladies from Illinois who were elected to Congress 
     were Ruth Hanna McCormick of Bryan and Emily Taft Douglas of 
     Chicago. McCormick, a Republican, was both the daughter and 
     the wife of former Congressmen, while Douglas, a Democrat, 
     was married to a future member of the United States Senate.
       McCormick's father was Marcus A. Hanna, who had served both 
     as a United States Senator from Ohio and Chairman of the 
     Republican National Committee. Her husband, Medill McCormick, 
     had been a member of both the House and Senate. After four 
     years as Republican National Committeewoman from Illinois, 
     McCormick in 1928 was elected Congresswoman-at-Large. Closely 
     identified with the policies of President Herbert Hoover, 
     McCormick in 1930 was defeated in her quest for a seat in the 
     United States Senate.
       Douglas was the wife of Paul H. Douglas, who served in the 
     United States Senate from 1949 to 1967. On November 7, 1944 
     Douglas became the first Democratic woman to be elected to 
     Congress from Illinois. Douglas in 1944 defeated the 
     incumbent Republican Congressman-at-Large, Stephen A. Day, a 
     staunch isolationist. Assigned to the prestigious Committee 
     on Foreign Affairs, Douglas worked for passage of the United 
     Nations Participation Bill, the British Loan Bill, and the 
     measures authorizing American involvement in UNESCO and the 
     United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In November 
     1946 Douglas lost her bid for re-election to Republican 
     William G. Stratton, who later would twice be elected 
     Governor of Illinois.
       Three Illinois ladies who each served several consecutive 
     terms in the House were Republicans Jessie Sumner of Milford, 
     Marguerite Stitt Church of Evanston, and Charlotte T. Reid of 
     Aurora. Sumner, Church, and Reid compiled unblemished records 
     of political success in their respective congressional 
     campaigns.
       Sumner was elected to the first of four terms in Congress 
     in November 1938. Sumner's district consisted of six 
     downstate counties extending vertically in close proximity to 
     the Indiana state line. As a member of the Banking and 
     Currency Committee, Sumner vigorously opposed the domestic 
     policies of Democratic Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and 
     Harry S. Truman. Moreover, Sumner was one of the most 
     outspoken isolationists on Capitol Hill,
      opposing such key measures as the 1939 repeal of the arms 
     embargo, the Lend-Lease Bill, the Fulbright Resolution, 
     and the International Monetary Fund (Bretton Woods) Bill.
       Church was the widow of Ralph E. Church, who was in the 
     midst of his seventh term in the House at the time of his 
     death on March 21, 1950. Mrs. Church was elected to Congress 
     in November 1950 and was thereafter re-elected five times. In 
     addition to the City of Evanston, her constituency included 
     several affluent suburban communities north of Chicago. Mrs. 
     Church's victorious proportions ranged from 66.0% to 74.1%, 
     and in all six campaigns she polled the highest number of 
     votes of any Illinois congressman. She was a member of the 
     Foreign Affairs Committee and in her final term served as a 
     delegate to the General Assembly of the United Nations.
       [[Page S3226]] Reid was initially elected to the House in 
     November 1962. Her district was composed of five counties 
     located between thirty and fifty miles west of Chicago. Reid 
     was elected to five terms by sizeable margins and became the 
     first Illinois congresswoman to serve on the powerful 
     Committee on Appropriations. On October 7, 1971 Reid 
     relinquished her seat in the House of Representatives to 
     accept President Richard M. Nixon's appointment to the 
     Federal Trade Commission.
       The two most renowned Illinois congresswomen in recent 
     years have been Republican Lynn M. Martin of Rockford and 
     Democrat Cardiss Collins of Chicago. Martin and Collins began 
     their active political careers in the nineteen seventies and 
     have remained two of the most articulate members of their 
     rival political parties.
       After serving in both the Illinois House of Representatives 
     and State Senate, Martin was elected to Congress in 1980. Her 
     district for two decades had been represented by John D. 
     Anderson, who in 1980 became an Independent candidate for 
     President. A formidable vote-getter and an eloquent public 
     speaker, Martin became the first Illinois congresswoman to be 
     designed a member of the influential Committee on Rules and 
     the woman to be chosen as Vice Chairman of the House 
     Republican Conference. Although virtually guaranteed re-
     election to a sixth term in 1990, Martin instead engaged in 
     an unsuccessful bid for the United States Senate. On December 
     4, 1990 Martin was appointed by President George Bush to the 
     Cabinet-level position of Secretary of Labor.
       Collins on June 5, 1973 won a special election to succeed 
     her late husband, Representative George W. Collins. At that 
     time Collins became the first Black congresswomen from the 
     Midwest. Easily re-elected to nine additional terms, Collins 
     after her 1990 victory was outranked in seniority by only 
     sixty-seven of her four hundred and thirty-four House 
     colleagues. Collins, serving an impoverished urban district, 
     established herself as one of the most liberal Democrats in 
     Congress. Between 1979 and 1981 she occupied the post of 
     Chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus. Finally, as 
     the ranking Democrat on the Committee on Government 
     Operations, Collins chaired the Subcommittee on Government 
     Activities and Transportation.
       The nine women from Illinois who served in Congress between 
     1920 and 1990 performed their duties in a conscientious 
     manner. As members of such important committees as Banking 
     and Currency, Foreign Affairs, Appropriations, and Rules, 
     these congresswomen exerted influence over the fate of a 
     substantial number and wide variety of major legislative 
     measures. While two of these ladies failed in attempts to win 
     races for the United States Senate, it was noteworthy that 
     the nine congresswomen prevailed in thirty-four of thirty-
     five House elections. Both individually and collective the 
     nine congresswomen from Illinois reflected high credit on 
     their state and nation.
     

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