Lusk, Georgia L. (Georgia Lee), 1893-1971

<p>Georgia Lee Witt Lusk (May 12, 1893 – January 5, 1971) was the first female U.S. Congressional representative from New Mexico, an educator, and a devoted public servant.</p>

<p>She was born Georgia Lee Witt (her maiden name often shortened to 'Lee') on a ranch near Carlsbad, New Mexico. After graduation from Carlsbad High School in 1912 she attended Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and Colorado State Teachers College at Greeley. She graduated from the New Mexico State Teachers' College (now Western New Mexico University) in Silver City in 1914. The following year she married a prominent rancher-banker named Dolph Lusk and taught school in Eddy County. When her husband died in 1919, Georgia Lusk was pregnant and already had two sons, but she overcame these obstacles as a widow and became manager of the family ranch while continuing to teach and raise her children.</p>

<p>Her son, Gene Lusk, was a New Mexico State Senator.</p>

<p>In 1924, women across New Mexico shook up local politics. The first female member of the New Mexico House of Representatives was elected, famed suffragist Adelina Otero-Warren shocked the state by winning the Republican nomination to run - unsuccessfully - for New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, and Georgia Lusk took her first steps into politics, being elected as superintendent of Lea County.</p>

<p>Georgia Lee Lusk was the first woman elected to the United States Congress from New Mexico. Representative Lusk entered the 80th Congress (1947–1949) determined to improve the education system, but as the mother of three World War II servicemen, one of whom was killed in action, she also fought for increased benefits for returning war veterans and supported the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration.</p>

<p>On May 12, 1893, Georgia Lee Witt was born to George and Mary Isabel Witt in Carlsbad, New Mexico. In 1914 Georgia Witt graduated from New Mexico State Teacher’s College after also attending New Mexico Highlands University and Colorado State Teacher’s College. She worked as a teacher for a year before marrying Dolph Lusk, a cattleman, in 1915. Dolph Lusk died in 1919, leaving Georgia with three young sons: Dolph, Virgil, and Thomas. While also running the family ranch, the young widow resumed her teaching career to support her family. In 1924 Lusk became school superintendent of Lea County, New Mexico. After an unsuccessful bid in 1928, she was elected state superintendent of public instruction in 1930, serving until 1935. A year later, she took on the superintendent position for rural Guadalupe County, before serving as New Mexico state superintendent again from 1944 until 1947. During her long tenure in school administration, Lusk often witnessed discouraging circumstances in New Mexico classrooms, such as severe book shortages and schoolroom overcrowding. A shrewd administrator, she found state funding, even during the Depression, to improve school conditions. Her eight years of leadership as state superintendent moved New Mexico from near the bottom of the nationwide school financing list to the top. After her children were grown, Lusk turned her sights on improving education on the national level. In 1944 she served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Rural Education.</p>

<p>Georgia Lusk’s political zeal led her to seek one of two At-Large seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, left open after Congressman Clinton Presba Anderson resigned his seat when appointed Secretary of Agriculture in 1946. In the June primary, she led six other candidates, barely beating popular Lieutenant Governor J. B. Jones by fewer than 300 votes. In the general election, she garnered more statewide votes than the well-seasoned incumbent candidate, Congressman Antonio M. Fernández, the other At-Large winner. In an election where the Republicans gained 55 seats and took control of the House of Representatives, Lusk, a staunch Democrat, also bucked a Republican trend when she took her seat in the 80th Congress in January 1947. She was one of seven women elected to that Congress.</p>