Subjects –
Women in Congress
The Committee on Education and Labor
March 21, 1867
On this day the House established the Committee on Education and Labor, with Representative John Baker of Illinois serving as its first chairman.
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.
The convening of the 66th Congress
May 19, 1919
On this date, 435 Members (plus 2 Delegates and 2 Resident Commissioners) gathered in the House Chamber for the opening of the 66th Congress (1919–1921).
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.
A historic change in the Oath of Office
April 15, 1929
On this date, Speaker Nicholas Longworth of Ohio changed the tradition of swearing in new Members by state delegations to swearing in all Members simultaneously.
Representative Barbara Jordan of Texas
February 21, 1936
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas was born on this date. After service as the first black woman in the Texas state senate, Jordan set her sights on a Houston-based U.S. House seat in 1972.
An organization called the Daughters of the House
February 05, 1938
On this date, the Daughters of the House met in Washington, D.C., to elect officers for a social club composed of daughters, daughters-in-law, and nieces of Members of the House of Representatives.
The Fair Labor Standards Act
June 25, 1938
The House passed the Fair Labor Standards Act—widely considered the final major piece of New Deal legislation.
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.
The establishment of the Peace Corps
September 22, 1961
On this date, a bill providing $40 million for the permanent establishment of the Peace Corps was agreed to by House and Senate conferees, approved by their respective chambers, and then signed into law by President John F. Kennedy.
The Equal Rights Amendment
August 10, 1970
Representative Martha Griffiths of Michigan successfully released the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) from the Judiciary Committee and brought the legislation to the House Floor for a vote on this date.
The War Powers Resolution
October 24, 1973
Labeling the bill “unconstitutional and dangerous,” President Richard M. Nixon vetoed the War Powers Resolution on this date.
The Hansen and Bolling Report
October 08, 1974
On this date, by a vote of 203 to 165, the House of Representatives passed the Hansen Committee report, one of the chamber’s significant internal reforms of the 1970s.
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.