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OMEN
th

of the

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-Congress

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This publication provides biographical sketches of the thirteen women of the 88th Congress of the United States, two of whom
are in the Senate and eleven in the House of Representatives.
The Women's Bureau has prepared this publication in response to many requests, both from this country and abroad, for
information concerning the public service of these outstanding
American women.

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CONTENTS

Page

Senator Neuberger (D) of Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Senator Smith (R) of Maine - . . . . .

. ........ .

Representative ·Bolton (R) of Ohio

Representative Dwyer (R) of New Jersey .

Representative Green (D) of Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Representative Griffiths (D) of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Representative Hansen (D) of Washington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Representative Kee (D) of West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . 15

Representative Kelly (D) of New York

Representative May (R) of Washington

19
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Representative Reid (R) of Illinois . . .

Representative St. George (R) of New York . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Representative Sullivan (D) of Missouri . . . . . . .

Committee Assignments for Women in the 88th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Number of Women in Congress, 1917-1963 . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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111

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SENATOR MAURINE B. NEUBERGER (D)
Stat e o f Or e g o n

Mrs. Maurine B. Neuberger was elected in 1960
as the first woman Senator from Oregon. She is the
widow of Senator Richard L. Neuberger, and was
elected to the remainder of his unexpired term at
the same time she was elected to a full 6-year term.
In the 88th Congress, Senator Neuberger is a
member of the Senate Banking and Currency and the
Agriculture and Forestry Committees, and the Special
Committee on the Aging.
Mrs. Neuberger graduated from the Oregon College of Education, University of Oregon, and did
graduate work at U .C.L.A. She taught English and
Physical Education in the Oregon public schools
until her marriage. Shortly thereafter, she was elected
to the Oregon State Legislature where she served
three terms. As chairman of the House Education
Committee in Oregon, she authored several bills setting up pilot ' programs for retarded and exceptional
children, tax deduction provisions for working
mothers, and promotion of public savings through
school reorganization. During this time she gained national acclaim for her successful crusade
to end the ban on colored margarine.
In 1954 Mrs. Neuberger came to Washington when her husband was elected to the Senate.
There she edited a monthly newsletter which went to her husband,s constituents. With her photographs of Alaska and the Northwest, she assisted him in the preparation of magazine articles
depicting that colorful country.
The Senator,s legislative program concerns Federal aid to schools, cancer research, grants
for handicapped children, extended social security benefits, housing for lower income families
and the aged, consumer protection against fraud and deception, the wilderness bill, and other
conservation measures.
Mrs. Neuberger is a member of the National Board of the United Nations Association. She
was a delegate to the NATO Conference in London (1959), and Paris (1960), and has served on
the Democratic Party,s National Committee on Natural Resources and Conservation. She was
appointed a member of the President's Commission on the Status of Women, and chairman of its
Committee on Social Insurance and Taxation. Also she has been a delegate to the Interparliamentary Union Conferences held in Canada in 1962 and in Switzerland in 1963.

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SENA TOR MARGARET CHASE SMITH (R)
State of Maine

Mrs. Margaret Chase Smith of Skowhegan, Maine, is
the only woman to have served in both Houses of Congress and to have been elected to three full terms in the
United States Senate.
Active in the political field since 1930, she served
on the Republican State Committee 1930-1936; was secretary to her husband, Congressman Clyde H. Smith
(deceased), 1937-1940; elected to the House of Representatives from the Second Congressional District of
Maine 1940-1948; and to the United States Senate in 1948.
Mrs. Smith began her career as a teacher and was
an executive in the telephone, newspaper, and woolen
industries. She was a nationally syndicated columnist
for more than 5 ye~rs.
The Senator from Maine was the first woman to
serve on the Armed Services Committee in the House of
Representatives, and received Presidential commendation while a member of the Naval Affairs Committee of
that body. In the Senate she has served on the Appropriations, Armed Services,Space, Government Operations,
Rules, and District of Columbia Committees. In 19531954 she was Chairman of the Ammunition Shortage Investigating and the Reorganization Subcommittees . In the
88th Congress, she is a member of the Aeronautical and
Space Sciences (ranking Republican), Appropriations, and Armed Services Co mm it tees, and the
Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee.
Mrs. Smith has served as Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve and is an outstanding proponent of Reserve legislation in Congress. She has been cited by the Air Reserve Association, National
Guard Association, and Reserve Officers Association.
In addition to being one of the ten most admired women of the world in the Gallop Poll (sixth in 1962)
for many years, and being cited repeatedly by national press and broadcasting organizations as woman of
the year in politics, Mrs. Smith has received many national honors, including: Woman of the Year, Associated Press (1948); Woman of the Year, United Press Radio Editors (1949); Award for Americanism from
Freedoms Foundation(1950); Voice of Democracy Award (1953); Distinguished Service Award from National
Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs (1955); Lord and Taylor Award (1956); International Achievement Award (1956), and Woman of Achievement Award (1958), both from Soroptimist International Association; multiple awards for National Health Leadership(1960); and a "Most Valuable Senator"
rating by Newsweek Press Gallery Poll (1960).
Mrs •.Smith received the honorary degree of LLD. from the following colleges and universities: Wilson
College (1945), Alabama College (1949), Coe College (1949), Smith College (1949), University of Maine
(1949), Bowdoin College (1952), Syracuse University (1952), University of New Brunswick (Canada)(1955),
Drexel Institute (1955), Wesleyan University (1955), Tufts University (1955), University of North Carolina
(1955), Columbia University (1955), Western College for Women (1956), University of Rhode Island (1956),
Russell Sage College (1956), Mills College (1957), Washington College (1957), Gettysburg College (1958),
George Washington University (1958), Bryant College. (1959), Park College. (1959), Ursinus College (1961),
Beaver College (1961), Lindenwood College (1961), Eastern Michigan University (1961), and Mount Holyoke
College (1962). She received the degree of L.H.D. from Hood College (1951), Hamilton College (1955),
Lafayette College (1955), Rollins College (1956), Keuka College (1957), and Woman's Medical College of
Pennsylvania (1959); and that of Litt.D. from Temple University (1955). She also holds the degrees of
M.A. from Colby College (1943), D.C.L. from Pace College (1956), J .S.D. from Portia Law School (1957),
and Ed.D. from Lesley College (1959).
The Senator has made extensive trips throughout the world and conferred with many leaders of
nations. She is regarded as one of America's most effective ambassadors of good will.

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REPRESENTATIVE FRANCES P. BOLTON (R)
Twenty-second Congress ion al District, Ohio
Mrs. Frances P. Bolton is the only woman from Ohio
ever elected to Congress. Elected in February 1940 to
finish the unexpired term of her late husband, Chester C.
Bolton, she has been reelected each succeeding term. In
the 88th Congress, Mrs. Bolton is the ranking Republican
member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, having
served on that Committee for 22 years. She was chairman
of the Subcommittee on National and International Movements, which issued the report "Strategy Tactics of World
Communism."
Mrs. Bolton became the first woman member of Congress ever to head an official congressional mission
abroad when she led a subcommittee to the Near East in
1947. As top Republican on the Subcommittee on Africa
and the Near East, Mrs._ Bolton made a 20,000-mile study
tour of Africa in 1955, visiting 24 countries south and
east of the Sahara Desert. In March of 1957 she was· one
of four official delegates named by the President to
attend the independence ceremonies of Ghana. Representative Bolton was U.S. Delegate to ·the Eighth General
Assembly of the United Nations (1953) , the first woman
to represent the Congress in that body. She was U.S.
Delegate to the British-American Parliamentary Conference at Hamilton, Bermuda, 1961, and Alternate Delegate
to the Seventh Annual Session of NA TO Parliamentarians'
Conference, Paris, November, 1961. As a member of the
Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Foreign Operations, she participated in Hearings on EastWest Center, Hawaii, December, 1961.
Mrs. Bolton has sponsored bills for low-rent housing units, equal pay for women, and legislation
making it unlawful to "black market" children across State lines for adoption. She was author of the act
which created the Cadet Nurse Corps, and was .:.nstrumental not only in equalizing the pay of nurses with
that of male officers of similar rank, but also in changing the status of nurses from relative to full commissioned rank as officers in the armed services. She successfully sponsored legislation to commission
men nurses as reserve officers in the armed services, thereby giving proper recognition to an important
segment of the nursing profession.
Mrs. Bolton's interest in nursing led to her endowment of the Frances P. Bolton School of Nursing
at Western Reserve University in Cleveland. During the First World War she helped establish the Army
School of Nursing. In the 84th Congress, she introduced legislation to establish a National Commission
of Nursing Services, and to authorize the Surgeon General to provide traineeships for graduate nurses.
Educated at the Hathaway-Brown School in Cleveland and Miss Spence's School in New York, Mrs.
Bolton has been awarded honorary degrees of LL.D. by Colgate University (1940) , Ohio Wesleyan University (1942), Kenyon College (1947), Wooster College (1948), Fenn College (1953), Oberlin College
(1953), Heidelberg College (1954), and L.H.D. by Western Reserve University (1944), Baldwin-Wallace
College (1944), Western College for Women (1957), Tuskegee Institute (1957), Lake Erie College (1959),
John Carroll University (1959), and University of Maine (1960). She also received the William Freeman
Snow Award of the American Social Hygiene Association (1949), the Adelaide Nutting Award from the
National League of Nursing Education (1951), a special scroll for service from the National Association
of Colored Graduate Nurses (1951), the National Award for Distinguished Service to the United States from
Women for Achievement (1951); the 1960 HCitizen of the Year Award" by Veterans of Foreign Wars,
Department of Ohio; State Department plaque "Service as a Member of Advisory Committee to The Foreign
Service Institute" (1961); "For Outstanding Service to the Community" V.F .W. Post 5799 plaque, Cleveland (1961); "Honorary Fellows of the Cleveland Medical Library Association" (1962); and National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, "Distinguished Achievement Award" (1962).
The Ohio Representative is an officer of the French Legion of Honor. She is the Ohio Vice Regent
of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, and a member of the following organizations: Cleveland Business and Professional Women's Club; Women's City Club of Cleveland, which awarded her an Honorary
Life membership in 1961; League of Women Voters, Cleveland; Daughters of Colonial Wars of Ohio;
Daughters of the American Revolution; Women's National Republican Club of New York; Pen and Brush of
New York; League of Republican Women, Washington, D. C.; and Society of Women Geographers, Washington, D. C. Mrs. Bolton is a Trustee of Lakeside Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio; Lake Erie College of Painesville, Ohio; Tuskegee Institute, Alabama; and Meharry Medical College , Nashville, Tennessee.

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REPRESENTATIVE FLORENCE P. DWYER (R)
Sixth Congressional District, New Jersey

Mrs. Florence P. Dwyer, now serving her fourth
term as a Member of Congress, is New Jersey's
first Republican Congresswoman. She is a member
of the House Committees on Banking and Currency,
and Government Operations, and is ranking minority
member of the Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee.
Active in the Republican Party since 1936,
Mrs. Dwyer was elected delegate-at-large to the
Republican National Convention in 1944 and was
made honorary vice president representing New
Jersey. She was elected alternate delegate-at-large
to the 1948 convention.
The Congresswoman from New Jersey was
elected to the New Jersey State Legislature in 1949
and reelected in 1951, 1953, and 1955. She was the
first woman to be appointed for 5 consecutive years
to the important policymaking committee of the legislature , and the second woman in the State's history
to be appointed assistant majority leader of the State
assembly. Mrs. Dwyer was chairman of the assembly's education committee, a delegate to the 1955
White House Conference on Education, and has gained wide recogmuon for her legislative
work in the field of education. She is author of New Jersey's equal pay for equal work for women
law. Prior to her election to the assembly, Mrs. Dwyer achieved broad legislative experience as
secretary and parliamentarian to the assembly majority leader and the speaker. After her election
she attended Rutgers Law School to further her know ledge of taxation and law, and to increase
her effectiveness as a lawmaker.
In Congress she has continued her interest in education, and has worked for a broad range
of legislation designed to lift living standards. She has also been active in the field of FederalState-local relations, and has advocated the strengthening of local and State governments by
encouraging them to meet the real needs of the people more effectively. Among her other legislative interests are: establishment of a Foreign Service Academy, an increase in the earnings limit
for social security beneficiaries, improvement of labor-management relations, strengthening of
metropolitan mass transportation services and solving other problems affecting urban areas, housing for the elderly, and ci vii rights protection. She cosponsored legislation establishing the
Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, of which she is one of three House members.
She has been active in such community endeavors as the PTA and Cub Scouts, the Business
and Professional Women's Club, and several charitable organizations. She was regional chairman
of the Red Cross committee for recruitment of nurses during World War II, and donated her services
as public relations adviser to the New Jersey Nurses' Association.
Mrs. Dwyer and her husband, M. Joseph Dwyer, now retired, have lived in Elizabeth, New
Jersey, for more than 35 years. They have one son, Michael J ., Jr., who is an Annapolis graduate
and an officer in the Air Force.

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REPRESENTATIVE EDITH GREEN (D)
Third Congressional District, Oregon
~s. Gr_een_ has repr~sented the Third Oregon Congressional D1stnct--the city of Portland and surrounding
~ultnomah. County--since 1954. She is now serving her
f1fth term m the Congress of the United States. During
her congressional service Mrs. Green showed special
interest in education and labor legislation as a member
of the House Education and Labor Committee. She is
chairman of the Special Subcommittee on Education, which
has jurisdiction over legislation dealing with higher education. Mrs. Green is also a member of the Merchant
Marine and Fisheries Committee.
Mrs. Green has sponsored and guided to passage in
the House, major assistance programs for colleges and
universities. In 1961, President Kennedy signed into law
o/O bills she sponsored in other fields. One provided
Federal assistance to dev~lop programs and techniques
to reduce juvenile delinquency. The second provided for
wider distribution of books and other instructional material for the blind.
In 1%1 she led her Special Subcommittee on Education to the Soviet Union, to observe the higher education
system there. Other legislation she has sponsored provided: collegiate nurses' training; aid to handicapped
children; equal pay for equal work; statehood for Alaska
and Hawaii; broader minimum-wage coverage; congressional standard of ethics and disclosure of all sources of income of Members of Congress; social security
improvements; liberalized immigration laws; creation of a Bureau of Older Persons; desegregation of hospital facilities built with Federal funds; reform of the Congressional Record; and establishment of the
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

Mrs. Green was born in Trent, South Dakota, on January 17, 1910. She attended Salem, Oregon,
schools, Willamette University, and subsequently received her B.S. degree from the University of Oregon.
She did graduate work at Stanford University, and has been awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Humanities, Doctor of Laws, and Doctor of Humane Letters.
Mrs. Green taught in public schools in Oregon for 14 years. In addition, she served as public relations
director of the Oregon Education Association. She has done work for the United Good Neighbors, Oregon
Cancer Society, and Oregon Congress of Parents and Teachers .. She has also done commercial radio work.
Mrs. Green was selected for the brotherhood award of B'nai B'rith in 1956. Two years later she was
named Woman of the Year by the national AMVETS Auxiliary. She was one of four members of Congress
to attend a parliamentary conference at Clarens, Switzerland, in 1958, and the following year was one of
ten congressional delegates to the NA TO conference in London. She received the distinguished service
award of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs in 1962. She likewise has been honored by
the Young Women's Christian Association and the National Council of Jewish Women.
In politics, Mrs. Green served on the platform committee at the Democratic National Convention in

1956. There she seconded the presidential nomination of Adlai E. Stevenson. In 1%0, she was chairman
of the Oregon delegation to the Democratic National Convention--the first woman ever to head a State delegation of her party. And at that time, she was asked to second the presidential no min at ion of
John F. Kennedy.
Besides her legislative duties, Mrs. Green is a member of the President's Commission on the Status
of Women, the United States National Committee to UNESCO, and two commissions of the National Council of Churches.
Representative Green is a member of the League of Women Voters, the Business and Professional
Women's Clubs, the Urban League, and the American Federation of Radio Artists. She is a member of the
First Christian Church. She is an honorary member of Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority, an honorary educational group.
She has two sons: James, a public school teacher in the Sandy, Oregon, school system, and Richard,

21, an engineering student.

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REPRESENTATIVE MARTHA W. GRIFFITHS (D)
Seventeenth Congressional District, Michigan

Mrs. Martha W. Griffiths was elected to the 84th
Congress, and reelected to the 85th, 86th, 87th, and
88th Congresses. She is the first woman appointed
to the Joint Economic Committee (1961), and the
first woman elected to the Ways and Means Committee (1962). Formerly she was a member of the House
Banking and Currency and Government Operations
Committees. In 1962 she attended the Inter-Parliamentary Union Council Meeting in Rome, Italy, as
American delegate.
Congresswoman Griffiths served in . the Michigan State Legislature from 1948 to 1952. She was
Judge and Recorder of the Recorder's Court of the
City of Detroit in 1953, the first woman ever to hold
this position, and a member of the Detroit City Election Commission in 1953. Her work in the legislature
and on the bench won her commendation by the Detroit
Common Council, during which time she was chosen
by the Capitol Press Corps as one of Michigan's ten
best legislators. She was named by the Detroit Free
Press as 1 of 12 outstanding Detroit women of achievement in 1953.
Mrs. Griffiths received her B.A. degree from the University of Missouri and later her LLB.
from the University of Michigan, and in 1941 she was admitted to the practice of law in Michigan .
In 1946 she opened her own law office, and in 1955 she was admitted to practice before the United
States Supreme Court. She is married to Hicks G. Griffiths, attorney, Detroit, Michigan.
She was the first Member of Congress to introduce legislation requiring slaughterhouses to
use humane methods, which legislation became law in the 85th Congress. She supported legislation to aid rural libraries and to enable college students to obtain Federal loans. She also supported a new housing program for the elderly, a food stamp program for needy families, and programs to alleviate the unemployment situation.
As a former contract negotiator for the Government during World War II, Mrs. Griffiths long
has been interested in procurement and the need for a realistic and sound purchasing system
whereby the Federal Government could save billions of dollars annually. In this regard she has
introduced legislation and supported extension of the Renegotiation Act, which returns millions
of dollars each year to the U. S. Treasury. In the 88th Congress Mrs. Griffiths has reintroduced
bills on: equal pay for equal work, equal rights, and measures to televise meetings of congressional committees and proceedings of the House.
The Congresswoman from Michigan was given a Certificate of Merit by the United Church
Women of America, National Council of Churches (1955); was awarded the Ruth Huston Whipple
Award for outstanding public service by the Business and Professional Women's Clubs (1955);
was selected by Redhook Magazine as one of the 10 Members of Congress who did the most for
young people (1956); was honored by the University of Missouri as one of their three outstanding alumni (1958), "Outstanding Congresswoman 1962" by Central Business District Association
of Detroit during · "Salute to Women Who Work Week," and Woman of the Year (1962), by the Soroptimist Club of Detroit.
Mrs. Griffiths is a member of the Detroit and Michigan Bar Associations, Business and
Professional Women's Club, Women's City Club, League of Worr.en Voters, and the Detroit Historical Society.

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REPRESENTATIVE JULIA BUTLER HANSEN (D)
Third Congressional District, Washington
Congresswoman Julia Butler Hansen is now serving her third term in the Congress. She was elected in
1960 simultaneously to the unexpired term of former Congressman Russell V. Mack in the 86th Congress and the
regular term in the 87th Congress, and was reelected in
1%2 for the 88th Congress by an overwhelmingly large
majority. Mrs. Hansen was a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and its Subcommittees
on Education, the National Labor Relations Board, and
the Impact of Imports and Exports on American Employment. She was also a member of the House Committee
on Interior and Insular Affairs, and its Subcommittees on
Territorial and Insular Affairs, Public Lands, and Indian
Affairs. In the 88th Congress, Mrs. Hansen is a member
of the Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee
on Interior.
Active in the Democratic Party throughout her life,
Mrs. Hansen was a member of the Washington State House
of Representatives from 1939 through 1%0 and Speaker
Pro Tern 1955-1960. She served continuously as a member of the House Education Committee and was chairman
of the Committee in 1941, 1943, 1945; chairman of the
House Roads and Bridges Committee in 1949, 1951, 1955,
1957, 1959; chairman of the Joint Fact Finding Committee on Highways, Streets and Bridges in 1949, 1951, 1957, 1959; and chairman of the Western Interstate Committee on Highway Policy Problems of 11 Western States in 1951-1960. In the field of education
in her state, Mrs. Hansen sponsored major 1e g is 1at ion covering teachers' retirement, tenure, salary
increases, school building program, lunches, nursery schools, school district reorganization, and basic
support laws. She sponsored legislation co construct and streamline Washington's highways, and to establish a highway commission, limited access laws, and the highway merit system.
She was State vice chairman of Young Democrats, 1939; chairman, Nine-County League, 1944-1945;
County Democratic chairman of Wahkiakum, 1936-1960, and served 8 years on the Cathlamet City Council.
Mrs. Hansen holds a B.A. degree from the University of Washington. Her family migrated to Washington Territory in 1877 and settled in the Columbia River country in 1880. She is the author of a widely
read historical novel about the Northwest for young people, for which she received a national prize; and
she has written extensively for the press.
During the 87th Congress she sponsored legislation on equal rights, lumber, power, veterans' benefits, and bills for her State. She is interested in all fields, particularly labor, area resources, and transportation problems. During the first session of the 88th Congress, she has introduced bills ranging from
trade and youth employment to power.
She is an honorary State member of Delta Kappa Gamma, from which she received an award in 1949
for "Outstanding Service to the Cause of Education," and is a member of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, Order of Eastern Star, and the Business and Professional Women's Club.
Mrs. Hansen is married to Henry A. Hansen, retired, and they have one son, David, 16 years old.

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REPRESENTATIVE ELIZABETH KEE (D)
Fifth Congressional District, West Virginia

Mrs. Elizabeth Kee is the first and only woman
to be elected to Congress from the State of West
Virginia. She was elected to the 82d Congress in
1951 to complete the unexpired term of her late husband, John Kee, who served 19 years in the House
of Representatives. Mrs. Kee was reelected by an
overwhelming majority to the 83d, 84th, 85th, 86th,
87th , and 88th Congresses.
Active in Democratic politics since 1922,
Mrs. Kee served as her husband's administrative
assistant from the time he was elected to Congress
in 1932. With this vast background of experience
she has a thorough knowledge of the problems of
her district.
Mrs. Kee is a member of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and serves on its Territorial
and Insular Affairs, National Parks, and Mines and
Mining Subcommittees. She is also a member of the
Veterans' Affairs Committee and Chairman of its
Subcommittee on Veterans Hosp it a 1 s. She was
appointed by President Kennedy as a member of the Advisory Committee on Natural Resources,
and by Speaker McCormack as a member of the Board of Visitors to the U. S. Naval Academy,
Annapolis, Mary land.
The Congresswoman from West Virginia is a member of the American Newspaper Women's
Club, having written a weekly column which has appeared for years in West Virginia newspapers,
and has produced radio and television programs over West Virginia networks. She is a member of
numerous civic clubs. Her heritage is deeply rooted in West Virginia, where she was honored as
West Virginia's ccDaughter of the Year" by the West Virginia Society in 1955, and later as West
Virginia's ccMother of the Year" by West Virginians in Washington, D. C.
Over a period of years Mrs. Kee has visited veterans' hospitals throughout the United States,
and has made goodwill tours to Europe and South America. She is interested in the needs of disabled veterans, problems of the physically handicapped, area redevelopment, and relief to economically depressed areas. In the 87th Congress she reintroduced legislation to establish a
program for t_h e economic rehabilitation of chronically depressed areas, and numerous bills covering veterans' benefits, as well as bills on establishment of a Select House Committee to make a
study of the national fuel policy, amendments to the Social Security Act for additional benefits,
area redevelopment, establishment of a You _th Conservation Corps, and amendments to the Small
Business Act of 1958 which would permit investors to make loans to small businesses.
Mrs. Kee has two children, a daughter Frances, and a son James who has a background of
many years of Government experience here and abroad, and who acts as her administrative
assistant.

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REPRESENTATIVE EDNA F. KELLY (D)
Twelfth Congressional District, New York
Mrs. Edna · F. Kelly was elected in 1949 to the 2d
Session of the 81st Congress and has been reelected to
date. She is the first woman elected to Congress from
Brooklyn, New York.
In 1942 Mrs. Kelly was appointed associate director, and in 1944 director of research for the Democratic
delegation in the New York State Legislature. She held
this post until her election to the House of Representatives. Mrs. Kelly is a member of the Democratic Executive Committee of Kings County, Brooklyn, New York,
and of the Executive Committee of the New York State
Democratic State Committee, and is also Democratic
National Committeewoman for New York State.
Since 1951 Mrs. Kelly has served as a member of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the United States
House of Representatives, where she is Chairman of its
Subcommittee on Europe, whose scope includes all European nations, including Greece and Turkey, the Commonwealth nations, territories and protectorates of the European nations; and Russia and the captive nations. In
addition, Mrs. Kelly is ranking member of the Subcommittee on State Department Organization and Foreign Operations, which has jurisdiction over the entire operation of
the State Department, Foreign Service, Embassy and
Consular buildings abroad, and the Foreign Service. Mrs.
Kelly is Chairman of the United States Canada lnterparliamentary Group.
In 1955 she was Chairman of a nine-member Study Mission to Europe, to investigate matters relating
to the Department of State and other departments and agencies engaged primarily in the implementation of
foreign policy. In 1957 she was Chairman of a five-member Study Mission on Policy Toward the Satellite
Nations, to obtain firsthand information on issues relating to the European area that comes within the
Mutual Security Program; and in 1959 Mrs. Kelly was Chairman of a Special Study Mission to Europe. In
1962 she made a study of the Soviet Economic Offensive in Western Europe.

The Kelly amendment to the Mutual Security Act provided for U. S. participation in the intergovernmental Committee for European Migration. Under this provision more than one million European refugees
have been resettled. Another amendment she sponsored provides for requirements regarding offshore procurement of equipment and materials, specifically the adverse effects of such procurement on the economy
of the United States with special reference to labor surplus areas. She successfully sponsored an amendment to the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, defining the words "friendly
nations" to prevent grants of surplus United States foods to Russia and satellite countries. She was one
of the first sponsors of legislation allowing working widows and widowers to deduct specified expenses of
child care from taxable income. This provision was incorporated in the 1954 tax law revision. Resolutions
introduced by her and unanimously adopted by the Congress include one opposing the admission of Communist China to the United Nations, and one expressing the sense of Congress on the problem of Hungary.
In the 82d and subsequent Congresses she introduced bills to establish the principle of equal pay for
equal work.
In the 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, and 88th Congresses, Mrs. Kelly introduced Joint Resolutions to create
a joint committee to evaluate, coordinate, and utilize all intelligence matters in the various branches of
the Government. Long concerned with agricultural problems, she has recommended direct payment to
farmers instead of the present system of agricultural subsidies. In the 87th Congress, Mrs. Kelly introduced bills providing equal pay for equal work for women, for raising the minimum hourly wage, and for income tax deductions for higher educational costs incurred by taxpayers on behalf of dependents. The
adoption of the Kelly Amendment to the Mutual Security Act of 1958 has brought more than $1 billion of
business to the United States. This amendment has not only paid for a large portion of the foreign aid
program; also it has been a major factor in helping to stem the outflow of gold from the United States. In
addition, more than 40 percent of these moneys were spent in areas of substantial labor surplus. One of
the bills Mrs. Kelly has introduced in the 88th Congress would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act
to permit a greater number of immigrants to .e nter the United States each year.
Mrs. Kelly was graduated from Hunter College, where she majored in history and economics. She is
active in Red Cross and cancer drives, church charities, the Greater New York Fund, and numerous childwelfare causes.

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REPRESENTATIVE CA THERINE ~~A Y (R)
Fourth Congressional District, Washington
Mrs. Catherine May, a former writer, commentator,
and producer of radio programs, is the first woman elected
to the United States House of Representatives from the
State of Washington, where she serves as the State's first
Representative on the Agriculture Committee. Mrs. May,
a Republican, was elected by the Fourth District in
November 1958 after serving 6 years in the House of
Representatives of the State of Washington • . She is now
serving het third term in Congress. She makes her home
in Yakima, Washington, where she was born.
Mrs. May holds a degree in Education from the University of Washington • . She was head of the English
Department at Chehalis High School, Chehalis, Washington, for 4 years, before becoming a writer for the National
Broadcasting Company in New York City. She was associated also with broadcasting activities in the State of
Washington.
In her home State, Mrs. May served as Vice Chairman of the Governor's statewide Committee on Educational Television, was 1e g is 1at iv e chairman of the
Washington State Federation of Republican Women's
Clubs, a member of the Governor's Safety Council, a member of the Washington Association for Retarded Children,
the Young Republican Federation, Alpha Chi Omega,
Business and Professional Women, and is an honorary
member of the Zonta and Altrusa Clubs.
A resolution adopted by the State of Washington House of Representatives in January, 1959, expressing the members' deep appreciation for her past assistance and contributions to the State says, " . . .
Catherine May ably served three terms as a member of the House, contributing to the progress of the State
in many ways ••• ''
In the 88th Congress Mrs. May serves as top-ranking Republican Member of the Family Farms Subcommittee of the Agriculture Committee, and also serves on the Research and Extension, Livestock and
Feed Grains, and Forests subcommittees, in addition to serving on the newly-created special subcommittee on Poultry. She is eighth ranking Republican Member of the full committee.

In 1962 Mrs. May was appointed one of the six House Members on the Joint Committee on Republican
Principles which drew up a Declaration of Republican Principle and Policy adopted by the Senate and
House· Republican conferences. She is a member of the All Republican Conference, honorary member of
the National People-to-People Organization, and the Committee of One Million.
.
Congresswoman May has devoted special interest to the problems of American a gr i cu 1 tu re with
emphasis on livestock, wheat, and feed grains, and actively supports expansion of domestic and foreign
markets for agricultural commodities. She also was particularly influential in obtaining increased acreage
for domestic sugar producers in the 1962 amendments to the Sugar Act. She is a consistent supporter in
Congress for the development of power, the proper use of timber, land, and water resources and orderly
development of reclamation. She is active also on behalf of a sound foreign aid program, equal rights for
women, medical care for the aged, and selective programs of assistance for education, handicapped children, and juvenile delinquency. In addition, she has waged an active battle in Congress against the dissemination of obscene literature and communist propaganda, backdoor spending, and deficit financing.
Since becoming a Member of Congress, Mrs. May has received many honors. In 1960 she was named
"Woman of the Year" by Alpha Chi Omega, and in 1959 was recipient of McCall's Magazine "Togetherness" award, and the Theta Sigma Phi Matrix Table award. In 1%2 she was the first .woman to address
the Yale University Political Union, a nonpartisan student forum. She is in demand as a speaker, and
since coming to Congress has addressed a number of national groups throughout the United States.
Mr~. May's husband, James O. May, is in the real estate business in Yakima. They have two children, James, 17, and Melinda, 13. During the sessions of Congress they maintain a home in Bethesda,
Maryland, where the children attend public schools and the family attends St. David's Episcopal Church.

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REPRESENTATIVE CHARLOTTE T. REID (R)
Fifteenth District, Illinois

Mrs. Charlotte Thompson Reid is serving her
first term in the 88th Congress. She was nominated
by the five County Chairmen in her district to seek
the congressional seat after the sudden passing of
her husband, Frank R. Reid, Jr., in August 1962 in
the midst of his campaign for election as the Republican candidate. Mrs. Reid conducted another vigoro_us campaign after she was nominated in September
1962.
She is no stranger to politics for she lived in a
political atmosphere for many years. Her father-inlaw, Frank R. Reid, had been a member of Congress
for 12 years. She had campaigned actively with her
husband in the primary, and also worked with him in
other local political contests. She attended the Republican National Conv~ntion in 1956 when her husband was a delegate.
Mrs. Reid graduated from East Aurora High
School and attended Illinois College at Jacksonville
for .2 years. Thereafter she studied voice for several
years in Chicago, and sang professionally for 3 years
as a member of the NBC staff.
She married Frank R. Reid, Jr., an Aurora attorney, in 1938. One daughter, Patricia
(Mrs. George Lindner), now lives in Boulder, Colorado; a son, Frank, is in the U.S. Marine Corps
at Lake Meade, Nevada; and Edward (Tom) and Susan are in Aurora.
Home and her late husband's career were her major interests. She served as cochairman of
the Aurora area March of Dimes, and was president of the Child Welfare Society. She is a member
of the Aurora Women's Republican Club, and was on its Board of Directors for 4 years. During
he.r years as a homemaker, she was active in local Girl Scouts, PT A groups, and many other civic
and charitable organizations.
Mrs. Reid serves on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and is on subcommittees
for National Parks, Territorial and Insular Affairs, and Indian Affairs. She has been appointed to
the Board of Trustees of the National Cultural Center, and was elected Secretary of the Illinois
Republican Delegation. She was also elected Secretary of the 88th Club, which consists of new
Republican members in the 88th Congress.

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REPRESENTATIVE KATHARINE ST. GEORGE (R)
Twenty-seventh Congressional District, New York

Mrs. Katharine St. George of Tuxedo, New York,
represents New York's 27th District in the House of
Representatives. The District consists of Rockland,
Orange, Sullivan, and Delaware Counties. Mrs. St.
George was elected in 1946 to the 80th Congress,
and has been reelected to each successive Congress.
Mrs. St. George serves on the House Rules
Committee, where she is the second ranking member
on the minority side. She has had 14 years' experience, not consecutive, with the Post Office and
Ci vii Service Committee; is a member of the Committee on Committees; and an Assistant Whip for the
Republican Party.
Representative St. George's legislative work
reflects a deep interest in Feder a I and post al
employees, and improvement in Federal service. She
initiated the Cost of Living Pay Adjustment Bill,
basing increases on the cost of living index; a b:ll
providing for a training program for Federal employees; and a bill for the Code of Ethics. Her 1952
report as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Postal Operations recommended improvements which
resulted in savings estimated at $70 million annually, and the assignment of an Assistant Postmaster General for Personnel.
Other legislative interests of Representative St. George include the Equal Rights Amendment, of which she is the chief sponsor in the House of Representatives; revision of our income
tax laws; improvement in social security legislation.
Mrs. St. George is now serving as President of the bipartisan United States Group of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organization.
Mrs. St. George served as Parliamentarian to the last two National Republican Conventions.
She is on the Board of Governors of the Women's National Republican Club and a member of the
Advisory Committee of the Republican Business Women's Club, both of New York City, the
Quassaick Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Rockland County Business
and Professional Women's Club, and a congressional endorser of the Committee of One Million
Against the Admission of Communist China to the United Nations.

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REPRESENTATIVE LEONOR K. SULLIVAN (D)
Third Congressional District, Missouri
Mrs. Leonor K. Sullivan, now serving her sixth term,
is the only woman ever to have served in Congress from
the State of Missouri. She is the widow of Representative
John Berchmans Sullivan , who was serving his fourth
term in the Congress at the time of his death in 1951.
A native of St. Louis, Mrs. Sullivan represents a
District located wholly within the borders of that city.
She resigned as training executive for a St. Louis business machines corporation when she married the Congressman in 1941, and later served as his administrative
assistant. In 1952, after a special election had filled the
vacancy in the 82d Congress caused by her husband's
death, Mrs. Sullivan decided to run for his former seat and
won election to the 83d Congress, and was subsequently
reelected to the 84th, 85th , 86th, 87th, and 88th Congresses.
Known throughout her career in Congress for her
strong interest in consumer issues, Mrs. Sullivan, now a
•
senior member of the Ho'l,lse Committee on Banking and
Currency, was named at the start of the 88th Congress
as Chairman of a newly created Subcommittee on Consumer
Affairs, with primary legislative responsibility for the
"Truth in Lending" bill which she has introduced, and for
other consumer issues within the Committee's jurisdiction.
Previously appointed to the Subcommittee on Housing, she
has played a leading role in the preparation of all housing
bills passed by the House since 1955-sponsoring improvements particularly in housing for the elderly and
chronically ill. In addition she participated in drafting,
and cosponsored a series of major measures to bolster national economic conditions, including the Area
Redevelopment Act, the Small Business Investment Act, the Export Credit Insurance Act, the mass transit,
and the community facilities bills. A ranking member also of the House Committee on Merchant Marine
and Fisheries, Mrs. Sullivan has served as Chairman of its Subcommittee on the Panama Canal since 1957,
directing numerous studies into the operational problems and activities of the Panama Canal Company.
Aside from her own Committee responsibilities, Mrs. Sullivan has been an active participant on legislation of consumer interests before other Committees, and was instrumental in the passage of: the Poultry
Products Inspection Act of 1957, establishing for the first time compulsory Federal inspection of poultry
in interstate commerce; a series of annual increases in the appropriations of the Food and Drug Administration (Health, Education, and Welfare Department) and of the Meat and Poultry Inspection Divisions
(Agriculture Department); the Food Additives Act of 1958, requiring pretesting for safety of all chemical
additives used in or on food stuffs; the anticancer provision-dealing with artificial coloring used in foods,
drugs, and cosmetics-of the Color Additives Act of 1960; the Hazardous Substances Labeling Act of 1961;
and the far-reaching Drug Control Act of 1962, including the major provisions relating to prescription drugs
first proposed by her 18 months earlier as part of an omnibus bill to rewrite the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act of 1938. Except for the prescription drug provisions already enacted, she has reintroduced in the 88th
Congress her omnibus bill calling for pretesting for safety of all ingredients in cosmetics, tighter controls over "pep" pills and barbiturates; stronger factory inspection standards for all products subject to
the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; stricter labeling requirements to prevent deceptive and misleading
packaging; and many other consumer protections. In 1954, as a freshman member of Congress, Mrs. Sullivan's House speeches against runaway coffee prices set off a Federal Trade Commission investigation
which disclosed widespread irregularities in futures trading practices and resulted in a sharp drop in prices.
Congresswoman Sullivan was the author of the Food Stamp law enacted in 1959 for the distribution
of surplus agricultural commodities to needy Americans through the regular grocery stores. A modified
food stamp plan is now being tested in numerous parts of the country to determine its feasibility on a
national basis. In 1957, Mrs. Sullivan drafted and introduced for the first time the Exceptional Children
Educational Assistance bill, to encourage experienced teachers to take advanced training in the skills of
teaching gifted children or those with physical or emotional handicaps. Only a limited start has been
made by Congress on this objective, however, with fellowship programs authorized only for teachers of the
mentally retarded, and for children with speech and hearing defects. She has reintroduced her Exceptional
Children bill again in the 88th Congress, and has also introduced bills for equal pay for equal work; mass
transit; full social security benefits for women retiring at age 62; deductibility for income tax purposes of
all educational expenses; and repeal of the 10 percent Federal excise tax on women's handbags costing
$15, or less.
Mrs. Sullivan was educated in public and private schools in St. Louis and attended night classes in
vocational psychology at Washington University.
She is a member of the League of Women Voters and of the auxiliary of the first American Legion
Post established in the United States.
25

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COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS FOR WOMEN IN THE 88th CONGRESS

Women Members of Congress have assignments to 5 of the 16 -Standing Committees of the Senate,
and to 13 of the 20 Standing Committees of the House of Representatives, as well as other separate assignments.

Committees of the SENATE
Maurine Brown Neuberger (D)
Standing Committees: Agriculture and Forestry
Banking and Currency
Special Committee on Aging
Margaret Chase Smith (R)
Standing Committees: Aeronautical and Space Sciences
Appropriations
Armed Services
Republican Policy Committee

Committees of the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Agriculture
Catherine May (R)

Interior and Insular Affairs
Elizabeth Kee (D)
Charlotte T. Reid (R)

Appropriations
Julia Butler Hansen (D)
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Edi th Green (D)
Leonor K. Sullivan (D)

Banking and Currency
Florence P. Dwyer (R)
Leonor K. Sullivan (D)

Post Office and Civil Service
Katharine St. George (R)

Committee on Committees
Katharine St. George (R)
Education and Labor
Edith Green (D)

Rules
Katharine St. George (R)

Foreign Affairs
Frances P. Bolton (R)
Edna F. Kelly (D)

Veterans' Affairs
Elizabeth Kee (D)

Government Operations
Florence P. Dwyer (R)

Ways and Means
Martha W. Griffiths · (D)

Joint Economic Committee of the SENATE and the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Representative Martha W. Griffiths (D)

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NUMBER OF WOMEN IN CONGRESS, 1917-1963
Congress

Total

88th
87th
86th
85th
84th
83d
82d
81st
80th
79th
78th
77th
76th
75th
74th
73d
72d
71st
70th
69th
68th
67th
66th
65th

13
19
17
16
17
1.3

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Senate

House

17
16
15
*16

11
10

10
8

9
9

6
6

8
8

7
7

9
5
3

*Includes the Delegate from Hawaii.

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* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1963 0-687762

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Full text of Women in the ... Congress : 88th

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