Catherine S. Long married into Louisiana’s legendary political family and spent nearly four decades immersed in state and national politics as a politician’s wife. When her influential husband died suddenly in 1985, Democratic Party leaders believed Cathy Long was a logical choice to succeed him, having served as his campaign surrogate and close advisor.
The first woman to represent Washington state in the U.S. House of Representatives, Catherine Dean May, entered public service after her father insisted that she not repeat his example of avoiding the political arena.
Unlike so many women whose marriage connection catapulted them to Congress, Coya Knutson’s familial ties brought her promising political career to a premature close. Knutson’s work in the House, devoted largely to protecting the family farm and opening educational opportunities, unraveled after her husband publicly called on her to resign.
Long-time senator from California
Born in the colonial British Empire, Elizabeth Furse became an anti-apartheid activist, an advocate for migrant farm workers and Native Americans, and founder of a peace institute.
Connecticut Representative Ella Grasso’s brief House career bridged two decades of service in state government and two trailblazing terms as the state’s governor.
Irish suffragist and fascist
Irene Langhorne Gibson chaired the Child Planning and Adoption Committee of New York’s State Charities Association for twenty-five years. She founded the New York branch of the Southern Women’s Educational Alliance, was a member of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and helped found and was a director of the Protestant Big Sisters, on whose board she served for many years.
Venezuelan independence patriot
1800s Irish novelist, historian, and political activist