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Jeannette Rankin, a Republican of Montana, took her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 2, 1916, as the first woman elected to Congress — even before the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 gave all American women the right to vote in elections.

Rankin maintained that women’s talents and expertise were needed to build better societies. “Men and women are like right and left hands; it doesn’t make sense not to use both,” she said.

In 1932, Hattie Caraway, initially appointed to fill her late husband’s seat, became the first woman elected to the Senate in her own right, representing Arkansas. Nicknamed “silent Hattie” for the rarity of her public speeches, Caraway took her responsibilities seriously and built a reputation for integrity.

Margaret Chase Smith represented Maine first in the U.S. House of Representatives and then in the U.S. Senate — the first woman to serve in both chambers of Congress. In 1964, Republican Smith became the first woman considered for the presidential nomination at a national convention; she lost to Barry Goldwater.