Kahn, Florence P. (Florence Prag), 1866-1948

Florence Prag Kahn (November 9, 1866 – November 16, 1948) was an American teacher and politician who in 1925 became the first Jewish woman to serve in the United States Congress. She was only the fifth woman to serve in Congress, and the second from California, after fellow San Franciscan Mae Nolan. Like Nolan, she took the seat in the House of Representatives left vacant by the death of her husband, Julius Kahn.

Born Florence Prag in Salt Lake City to Polish-Jewish immigrant parents, her family moved to San Francisco in 1869 where she attended public schools, eventually graduating from the San Francisco Girls' High School in 1883 before receiving an A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1887. Following graduation, she taught for more than a decade at Lowell High School in San Francisco. In 1899, she married Julius Kahn, a former Broadway actor, state legislator, and, at the time, a first-term U.S. Representative from San Francisco. For the next quarter century, Florence Kahn helped her husband manage his congressional workload. She acted as his aide and confidante in addition to writing articles for the San Francisco Chronicle.

...