Hattie Caraway
| Hattie Caraway | |
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United States Senator from Arkansas |
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In office November 13, 1931 – January 3, 1945 |
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| Preceded by | Thaddeus Caraway |
| Succeeded by | William Fulbright |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Hattie Ophelia Wyatt February 1, 1878 Bakerville, Humphreys County Tennessee, USA |
| Died | December 21, 1950 (aged 72) Falls Church, Virginia |
| Resting place | Oaklawn Cemetery in Jonesboro, Arkansas |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Thaddeus H. Caraway (married 1902-1931, his death) |
| Children |
Paul Caraway Forrest Caraway Robert Caraway |
| Alma mater | Ebenezer College Dickson (Tennessee) Normal College |
Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway (February 1, 1878 – December 21, 1950) was the first woman elected to serve a full term as a United States Senator. Caraway represented Arkansas. She was the first woman to preside over the Senate. She won reelection to a full term in 1932 with the active support of fellow Senator Huey Pierce Long, Jr., of neighboring Louisiana.
Hattie Wyatt was born near rural Bakerville in Humphreys County in west central Tennessee, the daughter of William Carroll Wyatt, a farmer and shopkeeper, and the former Lucy Mildred Burch. At the age of four, she moved with her family to Hustburg in Humphreys County. After briefly attending Ebenezer College in Hustburg, she transferred to Dickson (Tennessee) Normal College, where in 1896 she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. She taught school for a time before in 1902 marrying Thaddeus Caraway, whom she had met in college. They had three children: Paul, Forrest, and Robert; Paul and Forrest became generals in the United States Army. The couple settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where he established a legal practice while she cared for the children, tended the household and kitchen garden, and helped to oversee the family's cotton farm.
The Caraways established a second home Riversdale at Riverdale Park, Maryland. Husband Thaddeus was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1912, and he served in that office until 1921, when he became a U.S. senator. He held that position until he died in office in 1931. Following the precedent of appointing widows to temporarily take their husbands' places, Arkansas governor Harvey Parnell appointed Hattie Caraway to the vacant seat, and she was sworn into office on December 9. With the Arkansas Democratic party's backing, she easily won a special election in January 1932 for the remaining months of the term, becoming the first woman elected to the Senate. Although she took an interest in her husband's political career, Hattie Caraway avoided the capital's social and political life as well as the campaign for women's suffrage. She recalled that "after equal suffrage I just added voting to cooking and sewing and other household duties."
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