• The Suffrage Movement was born out of the Abolition Movement,
    which was championed by the Republican Party.  In 2010, we
    celebrated the 90th anniversary of the final ratification of the 19th
    Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.  Democratic
    President Woodrow Wilson opposed the Amendment, as did most of
    the Democratic Party.  In the final vote, it was a freshman
    Representative from Tennessee, Harry T. Burns - a Republican -
    that cast the tie breaking vote to finally give all women in the United
    States the right to vote.  The movie Iron Jawed Angels depicted the
    last push to get this amendment passed and is well worth watching -
    and passing on to young women every where.

  • It was the Republican Party who first advocated for equal pay for
    equal work.

  • By 1870, the Republican Party had already seated two women
    suffragists as delegates at the Massachusetts Convention.

  • In 1872 at the National Republican Convention passed a
    resolution to include more women.

  • In 1892 two women from Wyoming were sent to the National
    Republican Convention as alternate delegates, marking the first time
    women were seated at the National Convention.


    First Woman In Congress:
    In November, 1916, Jeanette Rankin (1880-1973) became the first
    woman elected to the House of Representatives and the first female
    member of Congress.  She was a Republican!

    First Woman In The Senate
    In 1931, Republican Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas was the first
    woman elected to the Senate. She served until 1944.

    First Hispanic Woman In Congress
    In 1989, Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida became the first
    Hispanic woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

    First Woman to Serve in Both House and Senate
    Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine is the first woman to serve in
    both houses of a state legislature and both houses of Congress.
    Married to Gov. John McKernan, Olympia Snowe was First Lady of
    Maine (1989-1995) while serving in Congress.  Elected to Congress
    at 31 in 1978, she is still serving as Maine's senior senator.

  • First Woman Veteran To Serve in Congress
Republican Heather Wilson of New Mexico was the first woman veteran
to    
serve in the House of Representatives.

  • First Woman to Serve on the Supreme Court
President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, made the historic appointment of
Sandra
Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court.  President Reagan continued to
appoint
many women to high level positions within his Administration, including Linda
Chavez, our keynote speaker for the 2010 Ladies of Liberty Gala.  Ms.
Chavez
was the highest ranking woman in the Reagan Administration and is currently
the CEO of the Center for Equal Opportunity.

  • First Hispanic Woman Governor
    New Mexico's own Susana Martinez, elected in 2010, is the first
    Hispanic woman to be elected the chief executive of a state.  
Did you know...