March is always a great month for me! Not only is it the month of my birth, but it’s also the month that boasts the arrival of Spring and the observance of National Women’s History Month!

I want to shine a light on the first woman ever to be elected to the United States Congress — Jeannette Rankin! Rankin, a Montana politician and a lifelong pacifist, was elected to Congress in 1916, and went on to become an influential leader in the women’s suffrage movement. While serving in Congress, Rankin was the only member to cast a vote against participation in both world wars, and in 1968, Jeannette Rankin led a protest march in Washington, DC. The “Jeannette Rankin Peace Brigade” consisted of some “…5,000 feminists, pacifists, radicals, and students” to protest the Vietnam War. Rankin died in 1973 at the age of 72, and at the time of her death, she was considering another run for Congress (again, in protest of the Vietnam War).

I encourage you to read more about the life of Jeannette Rankin, as well as to research other powerful women who deserve to be recognized and whose stories need to be told!  Wishing you a wonderful, enlightening March!