In 1916, four years before the 19th Amendment was even passed, Jeanette Rankin (R-MT) became the first woman ever to be elected to the U.S. Congress. This was one of the first major milestones for women in Congress, and it kicked off a long tradition of women making history in the Capitol Building. Take …

Image: Geraldine Ferraro at the Democratic National Party Convention, 1984 Every four years, the Republican and Democratic parties hold party nominating conventions to pick their presidential nominees, and women have been part of them before they even had the right to vote. As lawyer and suffragist Judith Ellen Foster, the first woman to address the …

When I first came to Washington, which was — and remains — a male-dominated place, I assumed that I should emulate the guys. I compensated for my soft-spoken, petite Latina self by taking up swearing, for example, as a way of showing the toughness and strength that I thought the guys wouldn’t see by looking …

Happy Friday! Welcome to our Media Round Up. Each week we’re collecting and sharing our favorite gender + politics stories. Here’s what caught our eye this week: Emulating Democrats, G.O.P. Ties House Hopes to Diverse Recruits Catie Edmondson, The New York Times In 2018, Democrats saw large wins by creating a diverse class of first-time …

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has promised to pick a woman to be his vice presidential running mate, what would be only the third woman VP pick in US history. As the selection process picks up, the potential roaster has narrowed down. Biden has already confirmed the names of several women he is considering, while …

“I want to look nice, and I want to spend no time getting dressed…When I first ran for public office…I wasn’t willing to invest the time in figuring out scarves and skirts and all of that, so I stuck to the black shoes, pants, and top and figured I could put a colored blazer with …

Image: Rep. Patsy Mink with President Lyndon B. Johnson, 1966 As the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community gathers virtually to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), it’s important to remember that federal laws prohibited Asian Americans to naturalize until 1952. This fact is important to recognize because the ability to run for office is …