U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for March 4: Jeannette Rankin

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

JEANNETTE RANKIN

Profile America — Saturday, March 4th. The first woman to serve in Congress took her seat on this date 100 years ago. Barely a month later, Jeannette Rankin of Montana became one of the few representatives to vote against entry into World War I, a stand that contributed to her defeat when she ran for the Senate in 1918. Absent for 24 years, she reentered Congress by winning a seat in the 1940 elections.  Putting her pacifist principles ahead of office holding, she cast the lone vote against declaring war on Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack. Her political career, which began before women gained the right to vote, ended with her term in early 1943. A full 43 percent of female citizens over 18 voted in the 2014 elections, and over 66 percent report being registered to vote. Profile America is in its 20th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 2609
Rankin's career/accessed 12/29/2016: http://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-%28R000055%29/ 
Women voting and registration/Current Population Survey/All Races table: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/p20/577/table01.xls

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau