Jeannette Rankin was born near Missoula, Montana, in 1880. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana in 1902. In 1909 she began work as a social worker, and the next year she became active in the women’s suffrage movement. In 1917 she was the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served until 1919. After leaving Congress, she worked for a variety of organizations promoting feminist and pacifist causes, including the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Women’s Peace Union, and the National Council for the Prevention of War. She served again in the House of Representatives from 1941 to 1943. Rankin was the only member of the House to vote against a U.S. declaration of war in both World War I and World War II. After World War II, she continued to support peace movements. In 1968 she led the Jeannette Rankin March on Capital Hill to protest the Vietnam War. Rankin died in California in 1973.
