Alice Robertson
Alice Mary Robertson | |
|---|---|
William W. Hastings | |
| Succeeded by | William W. Hastings |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 2, 1854 public servant |
Alice Mary Robertson (January 2, 1854 – July 1, 1931) was an American
anti-feminist
stance.
Until the election of Mary Fallin in 2006, Robertson was the only woman elected from Oklahoma to Congress.
Education, teaching, and early public service
Robertson was born at the
Creek language, including the Bible. In early life, Mary Alice Robertson was self-taught under the supervision of her parents. She attended Elmira College, in Elmira, New York
.
Career
Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Robertson started working as a
Indian boarding schools
across the country.
Robertson returned to the Indian Territory, and established the
Presbyterian boarding school for Native American girls. It eventually developed into Henry Kendall College and then the University of Tulsa
.
Robertson was appointed by the BIA as the first government supervisor of
Creek Indian schools, and she served from 1900 to 1905. She was next appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as the United States postmaster of Muskogee, Oklahoma, serving from 1905 to 1913. She was the country's first woman postmaster of a Class A post office.[2] During World War I, she provided a canteen service to local troops in what was the start of the Muskogee Chapter of the American Red Cross
.
Representative
Robertson became more involved in politics. She was elected by the 2nd District of Oklahoma as a
67th Congress, narrowly defeating the incumbent William Hastings
. She was the first woman to defeat an incumbent representative in a general election. She served from March 4, 1921, to March 3, 1923, but was unsuccessful in running for reelection in 1922 and was defeated by Hastings.
Robertson was the second woman to hold a seat in Congress, after Representative
special elections; they were the third, fourth, and fifth women to serve in Congress. During her term, Robertson became the first woman to preside over the House of Representatives, on June 20, 1921.[3]
Robertson was the first woman elected to Congress after passage of the
childcare on the grounds that they were an unwarranted governmental intrusion on personal rights. This earned her the support of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of which she was a member. She also voted against the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
.
Later life
Robertson was appointed by President
. She also owned a café, named Sawokla. In 1925, her home and café were burned down by her opponents in retaliation for her votes in Congress.Robertson died in Muskogee, and was interred in Greenhill Cemetery.
Legacy and honors
- She bequeathed her personal library and family papers to the University of Tulsa, where they became part of the collection of the McFarlin Library. The papers include Creek translations by her parents and her grandfather, Samuel Austin Worcester.
- Robertson Hall, a dormitory at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha was named in her honor.[4]
- In Muskogee, the Alice Robertson Middle School is home to the 8th and 9th Grade Center of the town.
- She is one of only five Republicans to have ever held the 2nd district seat in Congress.
Electoral history
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican
|
Alice Mary Robertson | 48.8% | ||||
Democratic
|
William Hastings (incumbent) | 48.4% | ||||
Socialist
|
John T. Cooper | 2.8% | ||||
| Total votes | 100 | |||||
Democratic
| ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic
|
William Hastings | 57.7% | ||||
Republican
|
Alice Mary Robertson (incumbent) | 41.7% | ||||
Independent
|
S. M. Gipson | 0.6% | ||||
| Total votes | 100 | |||||
Republican
| ||||||
See also
References
- ^ 1860 United States Federal Census--- Name: Mary A Robertson Age in 1860: 7 Birth Year: abt 1853 Birthplace: Creek Nation Home in 1860: Creek Nation, Indian Lands, Arkansas Gender: Female Post Office: Creek Agency
- ^ "Robertson, Alice Mary (1854-1931)". Archived from the original on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2013-02-11.
- ^ "ROBERTSON, Alice Mary". Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-02-26. Retrieved 2005-03-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- United States Congress. "Alice Robertson (id: R000318)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alice Mary Robertson.
- University of Tulsa McFarlin Library's inventory of the Alice Robertson collection housed in their special collections department.
- Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives Historical Highlights
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This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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