Nicholson Baker writes in his book Human Smoke : Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, voted against declaring war on Germany. It was April 6, 1917.
"I leaned over the gallery rail and watched her," said her friend Harriet Laidlaw, of the Woman Suffrage Party. "She was undergoing the most terrible strain." almost all of her fellow suffrage leaders, including Laidlaw, wanted her to vote yes.
There was a silence when her name was called. "I want to stand by my country," Rankin said. "But I cannot vote for war. I vote no." Fifty other member of the House voted no with her; 374 voted yes. "I felt, " she said later, "that the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war she should say it."
I don't remember learning about Ms. Rankin in school, shame on me. Her integrity is undeniable. Her sense of self and awareness of her place in history astounds me. I hope it's just my bad memory and not our schools who have forgotten to teach us about this amazing person.
Here is a link to the Jeannette Rankin Foundation.
A film was made about her life called "Peace is a Woman's Job".
I hope peace is a job we all own.
Peace.
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