Pratt, Eliza Jane, 1902-1981

Eliza Jane Pratt (1902-1981) was a newspaper editor, congressional staff assistant, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first woman to represent North Carolina in Congress.

Born in Morven, North Carolina, March 5, 1902, she attended Queens College and Kings Business College in Charlotte, N.C. and Temple Secretarial School in Washington, D.C. Following school, she became the editor of the Montgomerian, a Troy, N.C. newspaper, before working as a congressional aide to several North Carolina Representatives to Congress in Washington, D.C.

After the death of William O. Burgin, for whom she was working, she was nominated by the North Carolina Democratic Executive Committee to run in a special election to fill his seat. She won and finished the term before deciding not to run again, presumably due to the illness of her mother.

Pratt worked in a number of other government positions in the following years, including in the Department of Agriculture and the Library of Congress. After returning from Washington to Anson County, she worked as director of public relations for the North Carolina Telephone Company.

She died in Charlotte, N.C. on May 13, 1981 and was buried in the Raeford City Cemetery.