Rebecca Latimer Felton

Infobox Senator | name=Rebecca Latimer Felton
nationality=American


jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Georgia
party=Democratic
term_start=November 21, 1922
term_end=November 22, 1922
preceded=Thomas E. Watson
succeeded=Walter F. George
date of birth=birth date|1835|6|10|mf=y
place of birth=Decatur, Georgia

date of death=death date and age |1930|01|24|1835|06|10
place of death=Atlanta, Georgia
law school=none
spouse=William H. Felton

Rebecca Ann Latimer Felton (June 10, 1835 – January 24, 1930) was an American writer, teacher, reformer, and briefly a politician who became the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, filling an appointment on November 21, 1922, and serving until the next day. At 87 years old, she was also the oldest freshman senator to enter the Senate. As of 2008, she is also the only woman to have served as a Senator from Georgia.

Senator

In 1922, Governor Thomas W. Hardwick was a candidate for the next general election to the Senate, when Senator Thomas E. Watson died prematurely. Seeking an appointee who would not be a competitor in the coming special election to fill the vacant seat, and a way to secure the vote of the new women voters alienated by his opposition to the 19th Amendment, Hardwick chose Felton to serve as Senator on October 3, 1922.

Congress was not expected to reconvene until after the election, so the chances were slim that Felton would be formally sworn in as Senator. However, Walter F. George won the special election despite Hardwick's ploy. Rather than take his seat immediately when the Senate reconvened on November 21, 1922, George allowed Felton to be officially sworn in. Felton thus became the first woman seated in the Senate, and served until George took office on November 22, 1922, one day later.

Her tenure was the shortest for any Senator in history. She was also the last former slaveowner to serve in the U.S. Senate [http://www.nndb.com/people/329/000112990/] .

Final years

Felton was engaged as a writer and lecturer and resided in Cartersville, Georgia, until her death in Atlanta, Georgia. She was interred in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Cartersville.

Quotes

* "When the women of the country come in and sit with you, though there may be but very few in the next few years, I pledge you that you will get ability, you will get integrity of purpose, you will get exalted patriotism, and you will get unstinted usefulness." -- Address to the Senate, November 21, 1922

* "When there is not enough religion in the pulpit to organize a crusade against sin; nor justice in the court house to promptly punish crime; nor manhood enough in the nation to put a sheltering arm about innocence and virtue----if it needs lynching to protect woman’s dearest possession from the ravening human beasts----then I say lynch, a thousand times a week if necessary." August 11, 1897

See also

*Women in the United States Senate

References

*
* U.S. Senate. [http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/First_Woman_Senator_Appointed.htm First woman senator appointed] . Retrieved March 1, 2005.
* [http://www.1898wilmington.com/AlexanderManlyRebeccaFelton.shtml Alexander Manly & Rebecca Felton ] at www.1898wilmington.com
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/felton/menu.html Felton's memoirs online]
* [http://qanda.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1026 Uncorrected transcript of interview] with Richard Baker, Senate Historian, on C-SPAN Q&A television program, June 12, 2005