Blitch, Iris, 1912-1993

<p>Representative Iris Blitch of Georgia embodied a peculiar mixture of progressive feminism and southern conservatism during her long political career, which included four terms in the U.S. House. As a Georgia state legislator she pushed women’s rights concerns. In the U.S. House, while displaying considerable legislative ability, she hewed to more traditional lines, advocating on behalf of agricultural interests in her rural district while denouncing federal efforts to enforce civil rights in the South. Over the span of her career, Blitch earned a reputation as a quick-tongued legislator who enjoyed the give-and-take of debate. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in politics,” she once recalled.</p>

<p>Iris Faircloth was born near Vidalia, Georgia, on April 25, 1912, daughter of James Louis Faircloth and Marietta Ridgdill Faircloth. She attended public elementary schools in Georgia. Both of her parents died by the time she was nine, so Iris Faircloth moved to Frederick, Maryland, to live with her two older sisters. She graduated from Hagerstown High School and returned to Georgia in 1929 to attend the University of Georgia at Athens. After her first year of school, Iris Faircloth married businessman Brooks Erwin Blitch Jr. The couple raised two children: Betty and Brooks, while working together in their pharmacy, lumber, cattle, and fertilizer businesses, as well as tending to the family farm in Homerville.</p>

<p>Iris Blitch became involved in politics during the Great Depression, out of concern for the lack of assistance for people suffering from the economic disaster. At the time, Georgia politics were controlled at the executive level by Democratic Governor Eugene Talmadge’s political machine, characterized by its popular conservative, rural, and anti-New Deal stance. In this context, Blitch first ran for elective office as a Democratic candidate for the Georgia state house of representatives in 1940. Although she was unsuccessful, she later won a seat in the Georgia state senate in 1946. Two years later, Blitch was elected to the state house of representatives. While in the legislature, she managed to pass a bill to allow women to serve on Georgia juries. When opponents objected that women were too delicate for “indecent” courtroom responsibilities, Blitch shot back, “then it is time to bring women into the court rooms to clean them up.” Blitch also returned to school in 1949 and attended South Georgia College at Douglas, where she studied political science, accounting, and English. After losing her 1950 re-election campaign, she was elected to the state senate in 1952 and served until December 1954 as a close ally of the administration of Governor Herman Talmadge (Eugene’s son) and was soon recognized as a top leader in the Talmadge machine. During this time she also was heavily involved with the national Democratic Party, serving from 1948 to 1956 as one of the eight members of the Democratic National Committee’s executive committee.</p>

<p>Iris Faircloth Blitch (April 25, 1912 – August 19, 1993) was a United States Representative from Georgia. She was the fourth woman to represent Georgia in the Congress, and the first to win a regularly scheduled general election. Blitch was a vocal advocate both for women's rights and racial segregation.</p>

<p>Blitch was born near Vidalia, Georgia and attended the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens in 1929. She also attended South Georgia College in Douglas in 1949. Blitch worked with her husband in managing their farm as well as cattle, timber, naval stores, fertilizer, and pharmacy businesses in Homerville, Georgia.</p>

<p>In 1946, Blitch was elected to the Georgia Senate; she was subsequently elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1948 but lost her reelection bid to that office in 1950. She won election to the state Senate again in 1952 and remained in that position through December 31, 1954. From 1948 through 1954, Blitch was Georgia's Democratic Party national committee member.</p>