Reeves, Mildred E., 1896-1973

Mildred Reeves was the chief of staff for Congressman Nicholas Longworth, a Republican legislator from Ohio; by 1919 Reeves was one of a number of women serving in high-ranking jobs on Capitol Hill. When Longworth became Speaker of the House in 1925, Reeves made history, becoming the first woman to ever run the Speaker’s office. She earned a juris doctorate from National University Law School while working for Longworth. In August 1928, Reeves was one of 193 people (just 14 of whom were women) to pass the DC bar exam. When Longworth died in April 1931 Reeves became the point person. She took a job in what was then known as the Bureau of Internal Revenue, where she served as counsel in the office of the general accountant; when Franklin Roosevelt was elected Reeves was one of about 50 attorneys who were summarily dismissed. She subsequently went into private practice in Washington. At the 1936 Republican National Convention that nominated Kansas Governor Alf Landon as its presidential candidate, Reeves made national headlines again when she became the first woman to serve on the Republican platform committee. President Dwight D. Eisenhower made Reeves his first female judicial appointment, naming her to serve as a judge on the District of Columbia Municipal Court. At the end of her 10-year term in 1963 she retired. Retired and in her mid-60s, Mildred Reeves married Dennis Sherman on December 2, 1963; the pair moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Reeves died of cancer on July 15, 1973.