On This Day

Rebecca L Felton (Ga) sworn in as first female US Senator [1]

Rebecca Ann Felton was an American writer, politician, white supremacist, and slave owner who was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, serving for only one day.

Rebecca Ann Felton was an American writer, politician, white supremacist, and slave owner who was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, serving for only one day. She was a prominent member of the Georgia upper class who advocated for white supremacy, prison reform, women's suffrage and education reform. Her husband, William Harrell Felton, served in both the United States House of Representatives and the Georgia House of Representatives, and she helped organize his political campaigns. Historian Numan Bartley wrote that by 1915 Felton "was championing a lengthy feminist program that ranged from prohibition to equal pay for equal work."

A major figure in American first-wave feminism, Felton was the last slave owner to serve in the Senate.

Historical Significance

Rebecca Ann Felton was an American writer, politician, white supremacist, and slave owner who was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, serving for only one day.

Events Before

  1. Republic of Turkey is declared from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire

    Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a smaller part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe.

  2. Charlie Chaplin releases his first full-length feature, "The Kid," a silent film starring Charlie Chaplin and 6-year-old

    Charlie Chaplin releases his first full-length feature, "The Kid," a silent film starring Charlie Chaplin and 6-year-old Jackie Coogan

  3. Actor Jack Haley (22) weds Florence McFadden

    Actor Jack Haley (22) weds Florence McFadden

  4. Comedian Oliver Hardy (29) marries actress Myrtle Reeves (24)

    Comedian Oliver Hardy (29) marries actress Myrtle Reeves (24)

  5. French army captain, and future president, Charles de Gaulle (30) weds Yvonne Vendroux (20) in the Notre-Dame de Calais

    French army captain, and future president, Charles de Gaulle (30) weds Yvonne Vendroux (20) in the Notre-Dame de Calais church

Events After

  1. Britain's Railways are grouped into the Big Four: LNER, GWR, SR, and LMS

    The "Big Four" was a name used to describe the four largest railway companies in the United Kingdom in the period 1923–1947.

  2. President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (41) weds Latife Hanim; divorce in 1925

    President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (41) weds Latife Hanim; divorce in 1925

  3. Howard Carter opens the inner burial chamber of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and finds the sarcophagus

    Howard Carter (9 May 1874 – 2 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who became known for discovering the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the...

  4. Italian actor Rudolph Valentino (24) divorces actress Jean Acker (26)

    Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino or mononymously as Valentino was an Italian-born...

  5. Writer Anaïs Nin (Delta of Venus) marries banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in Havana, Cuba

    Writer Anaïs Nin (Delta of Venus) marries banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in Havana, Cuba

More from the 1920s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on November 21, 1922?
Rebecca Ann Felton was an American writer, politician, white supremacist, and slave owner who was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, serving for only one day. She was a prominent member of the Georgia upper class who advocated for white supremacy, prison reform, women's suffrage and education reform. Her husband, William Harrell Felton, served in both the United States House of Representatives and the Georgia House of Representatives, and she helped organize his political campaigns.
Why is Rebecca L Felton (Ga) sworn in as first female US Senator [1] significant?
Rebecca Ann Felton was an American writer, politician, white supremacist, and slave owner who was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, serving for only one day.

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