Granahan, Kathryn Elizabeth, 1894-1979

Kathryn Elizabeth Granahan (December 7, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman to be elected to the United States Congress from Philadelphia. After leaving the House, she served as the 32nd Treasurer of the United States.

Born Kathryn Elizabeth O'Hay in Easton, Pennsylvania, she graduated from Easton High School and Mount St. Joseph Collegiate Institute (later Chestnut Hill College) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She became the supervisor of public assistance in the state auditor general’s department and liaison officer between that department and the department of public assistance, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from 1940 to 1943. In that job, O’Hay met William Granahan, a World War I veteran, member of the state Democratic committee, Democratic ward leader in Philadelphia, and chief disbursing officer for the Pennsylvania treasury. In 1943 the couple married. A year later, William Granahan won election as a Democrat to a U.S. congressional district encompassing Philadelphia’s west end. Though he lost his seat in the national Republican sweep of 1946, William Granahan recaptured the seat two years later and retained it until his unexpected death in May 1956.

Philadelphia’s Democratic powerbrokers chose Kathryn Granahan to run for her husband’s vacant seat in the House, both for the remainder of the 84th Congress and for the full term in the 85th Congress. On November 6, 1956, Kathryn Granahan won the special election to the remainder of the 84th Congress and at the same time was elected to serve a full term for the 85th Congress, winning 62 percent of the vote. Her service began with the special election, thus giving her seniority over incoming freshmen in the 85th Congress. In 1958 and 1960, Granahan topped her Republican challengers by ever-wider margins—66 percent and 72 percent, respectively. Though a liberal New Dealer supporting workers' rights, welfare legislation, and civil rights, Granahan's primary legislative undertaking was an effort to halt the spread of pornographic materials through the U.S. mail, specifically those which worked their way into the hands of children and teenagers.

When the 1960 Census revealed that Pennsylvania would lose three of its House seats; as part of a compromise plan, Granahan's was chosen as the Philadelphia-based seat for elimination. As recompense, Granahan was appointed Treasurer of the United States, beginning her Cabinet appointment on January 9, 1963. Among her proposals as the fourth woman to head the Treasury was the return of the two-dollar bill to circulation. In May of 1965, Granahan underwent brain surgery for a blood clot caused by an accidental fall. While the surgery was successful, Granahan worked a reduced schedule and her capacity to serve as Treasurer eventually was called into question. On June 10, 1966, a Philadelphia judge set aside a petition to have her declared incompetent and to appoint a guardian to her estate. Four months later, Granahan submitted her resignation to Treasury Secretary Henry H. Fowler. She died in Norristown, Pennsylvania.