Nolan, Mae Ella, 1886-1973

<p>Mae Ella Nolan (September 20, 1886 – July 9, 1973) was an American politician who became the fourth woman to serve in the United States Congress, the first woman elected to Congress from California, the first woman to chair a Congressional committee, and the first to fill the seat left vacant by her husband's death. She took her seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1923.</p>

<p>Mae Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, and attended public schools, St. Vincent's Convent, and Ayres Business College of San Francisco.</p>

<p>Nolan was elected as a Republican to the 67th Congress by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, John Ignatius Nolan, on November 18, 1922. She served in the 67th and 68th Congresses, from January 23, 1923 to March 3, 1925.</p>

<p>As the first woman to succeed her husband in Congress, widow Mae Ella Nolan set a precedent by championing the legislative agenda of her late spouse, John Ignatius Nolan. Congresswoman Nolan’s example influenced many future widows. But her career, which included the distinction of being the first woman to head a congressional committee and all the attendant media attention, proved short-lived.</p>

<p>Mae Ella Hunt was born on September 20, 1886, to Irish immigrants in San Francisco, California, and grew up in its working-class neighborhoods. She attended the public schools in San Francisco, St. Vincent’s Convent, and Ayers Business College of San Francisco. Mae Ella worked at a dry goods store run by her father before earning a certificate in stenography and going to work at Wells Fargo Express. In 1913 she married John I. Nolan—a former iron molder and labor activist—shortly after he was elected to the 63rd Congress (1913–1915) on the Bull Moose Party ticket. The couple raised a daughter named Corliss. John Nolan, a San Francisco native and former member of the city’s board of supervisors, had been active in the city labor movement and political scene for years. He entered the iron molding trade at age 14 and moved into the ranks of union leadership—as a member of the national executive board of the molders’ union, as a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, and as a lobbyist representing the labor council in Sacramento. He played a prominent role in the Union Labor Party, at the height of its influence in San Francisco politics during the Progressive Era. Representing a House district that covered southern San Francisco, Nolan eventually chaired the Labor Committee and was considered the Republican Party’s leading labor advocate, fighting aggressively against child labor and working for protections for women in industrial jobs. He was considered for Labor Secretary in President Warren G. Harding’s Cabinet. Mae Nolan was his constant companion. Corliss was known as the “Daughter of the House of Representatives,” and became a regular on the House Floor and a favorite of Speakers Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois and Champ Clark of Missouri.</p>

<p>John Nolan was elected unopposed to a sixth term in November 1922 but died weeks after the election. The Union Labor Party quickly nominated Mae Ella Nolan to succeed her husband. She also received the support of the executive committee of the California Women’s Republican League. While campaigning, Nolan embraced a platform that called for relaxing Prohibition laws and supported labor interests. Though the campaign was pushed back two weeks to allow prospective candidates to gather signatures for their nomination, Nolan was the odds-on favorite. On January 23, 1923, she was elected as a Republican to the remaining few weeks of the 67th Congress (1921–1923) with a 47-percent plurality, running roughly 2,000 votes ahead of her nearest opponent, San Francisco supervisor Edwin G. Bath. On that same day, voters also sent Nolan to the full term in the 68th Congress (1923–1925), set to commence on March 4, 1923. She out-polled six other competitors, again topping Bath by more than 3,000 votes, to win with a 40-percent plurality.</p>