Bedell, Catherine May, 1914-2004
Catherine Dean May (May 18, 1914 – May 28, 2004) was a U.S. Representative from Washington. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first woman elected to Congress in the state of Washington.
Born Catherine Dean Barnes in Yakima, Washington. She attended Yakima Valley Junior College before graduating from the University of Washington with a BA in English and speech in 1936. After earning a teaching certificate there the following year, she taught high school English in Chehalis, Washington from 1937 to 1940. In 1940 she pursued a radio broadcasting career in Tacoma and Seattle. On January 18, 1943, she married James O. May. The following year, while waiting for her husband to be discharged from the U.S. Army, Catherine May worked as a writer and assistant commentator for the National Broadcasting Company in New York City. The couple returned to Yakima in 1946, where James May established a real estate and insurance business while she worked as a women’s editor for a local radio station. The couple became active in politics after Charles Barnes, whose department store went bankrupt in the Great Depression, revealed that his great regret in life was not participating in local government to address public problems. The Mays joined the Young Republicans and became active precinct workers. In 1952, at James’s urging, Catherine May ran for a seat as Yakima’s representative in the Washington legislature. She served there for six years.
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