[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 160 (Thursday, October 2, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H10678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING AND RECOGNIZING ALICE MARY ROBERTSON WHO, WHILE A MEMBER OF 
CONGRESS, BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN TO PRESIDE OVER THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE 
                           OF REPRESENTATIVES

  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to 
discharge the Committee on House Administration from further 
consideration of House Resolution 1272 and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 1272

       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was born on January 2, 1854, 
     in the Tullahassee Mission, Creek Nation, Indian Territory, 
     now known as Tullahassee, Oklahoma;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was an American educator, 
     social worker, government official, and politician;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was the 2nd woman to serve in 
     Congress and the 1st from the State of Oklahoma;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was a clerk in the Bureau of 
     Indian Affairs from 1873 to 1879, later returning to Indian 
     Territory and teaching in Tullahassee and the Carlisle Indian 
     Industrial School;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson established the Nuyaka 
     Mission, taught in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and was in charge of a 
     Presbyterian boarding school for Native American girls, now 
     the University of Tulsa;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was appointed by President 
     Theodore Roosevelt as the 1st government supervisor of Creek 
     Indian schools from 1900 to 1905, and later the postmaster of 
     Muskogee, Oklahoma, from 1905 to 1913;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson's canteen service to the 
     troops during World War I later led to the formation of the 
     Muskogee Chapter of the American Red Cross;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was elected by the 2nd 
     District of Oklahoma as a Republican Representative to the 
     67th Congress, from 1921 to 1923, serving on the Committee on 
     Indian Affairs, the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior 
     Department, and the Committee on Woman Suffrage;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson helped secure the building of 
     a veteran's hospital in Muskogee, following the creation of 
     the Veterans Bureau in 1921;
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson became the 1st woman to 
     preside over the House of Representatives on July 20, 1921, 
     when she presided over a roll call vote on S.J. Res. 34; and
       Whereas Alice Mary Robertson was a devoted teacher for the 
     Creek Nation and helped the community through her translation 
     of portions of the Scriptures and texts: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes 
     Alice Mary Robertson for her spirit of service and dedication 
     to her country, and honors her as a great American in 
     recognition of her contributions to the State of Oklahoma and 
     nationwide in the House of Representatives.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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