On This Day in 1922: First Woman US Senator + Women in Senate

Rebecca Latimer FeltonOctober 3, 1922: Rebecca Latimer Felton, 87, of Catersville, Georgia, was appointed on this day, by Governor Thomas Hardwick of Georgia to the Senate seat vacated by the death of Thomas E. Watson. It was a two-day ad interim appointment. Felton's largely symbolic Senate spot capped a long career in Georgia politics and journalism.

The first woman elected to the Senate was Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas. Appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, U.S. Senator Thaddeus Caraway, Ms. Caraway then sought and won election on her own in 1932. She was reelected in 1938 and served until 1945.

To date, 38 women have served in the United States Senate, with 17 serving at this time:

Women in the Senate

Rebecca Latimer Felton (D-Georgia), 1922

Hattie Wyatt Caraway (D-Arkansas), 1931-1945

Rose McConnell Long (D-Louisiana), 1936-1937

Dixie Bibb Graves (D-Alabama), 1937-1938

Gladys Pyle (R-South Dakota), 1938-1939

Vera Cahalan Bushfield (R-South Dakota), 1948

Margaret Chase Smith (R-Maine), 1949-1973

Eva Kelley Bowring (R-Nebraska), 1954

Hazel Hempel Abel (R-Nebraska), 1954

Maurine Brown Neuberger (D-Oregon), 1960-1967

Elaine S. Edwards (D-Louisiana), 1972

Muriel Humphrey (D-Minnesota), 1978

Maryon Allen (D-Alabama), 1978

Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kansas), 1978-1997

Paula Hawkins (R-Florida), 1981-1987

Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland), 1987-present

Jocelyn Burdick (D-North Dakota), 1992

Dianne Feinstein (D-California), 1992-present

Barbara Boxer (D-California), 1993-present

Carol Moseley Braun (D-Illinois), 1993-1999

Patty Murray (D-Washington), 1993-present

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), 1993-present

Olympia Jean Snowe (R-Maine), 1995-present

Sheila Frahm (R-Kansas), 1996

Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), 1997-present

Susan Collins (R-Maine), 1997-present

Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas), 1999-present

Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York), 2001-2009

Deborah Stabenow (D-Michigan), 2001-present

Maria E. Cantwell (D-Washington), 2001-present

Jean Carnahan (D-Missouri), 2001- 2002

Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), 2002-present

Elizabeth Dole (R-North Carolina), 2003-2009

Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), 2007-present

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), 2007-present

Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), 2009-present

Kay R. Hagan (D-North Carolina), 2009-present

Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-New York), 2009-present