Jeanette Rankin

Published May 13, 2026 at 10:04 AM EDT

American pacifist leader and former congresswoman Jeannette Rankin (1880 - 1973) addresses a rally at Union Square, New York, New York, September 1924. Rankin became the first female member of Congress when she was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916. Rankin was reelected to Congress in 1940 and was the only member to vote against US entry in both World War I and World War II. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

In 1916, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, representing Montana. At the time she was elected, women in most other states were not able to vote. She was a strong advocate for peace, voting against entry into both World Wars. She lobbied for peace all the way through the Vietnam era, leading a march on Washington in 1968.

She also spent many years living in Georgia. In 1923, she bought some land in Bogart and later moved to Watkinsville. When she died in 1973, she donated that estate to help "mature, unemployed women workers". That was the beginning of the Jeanette Rankin Foundation, a non profit which has now awarded over $1.8 million in scholarships to women 35 and older.

Note: The Jeanette Rankin Foundation is an underwriter of WUGA