Bedell, Catherine May, 1914-2004

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Catherine Dean May (May 18, 1914 – May 28, 2004) was a U.S. Representative from Washington. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first woman elected to Congress in the state of Washington.

Born Catherine Dean Barnes in Yakima, Washington. She attended Yakima Valley Junior College before graduating from the University of Washington with a BA in English and speech in 1936. After earning a teaching certificate there the following year, she taught high school English in Chehalis, Washington from 1937 to 1940. In 1940 she pursued a radio broadcasting career in Tacoma and Seattle. On January 18, 1943, she married James O. May. The following year, while waiting for her husband to be discharged from the U.S. Army, Catherine May worked as a writer and assistant commentator for the National Broadcasting Company in New York City. The couple returned to Yakima in 1946, where James May established a real estate and insurance business while she worked as a women’s editor for a local radio station. The couple became active in politics after Charles Barnes, whose department store went bankrupt in the Great Depression, revealed that his great regret in life was not participating in local government to address public problems. The Mays joined the Young Republicans and became active precinct workers. In 1952, at James’s urging, Catherine May ran for a seat as Yakima’s representative in the Washington legislature. She served there for six years.

In 1958, May was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-sixth United States Congress. She was subsequently re-elected five times, serving from January 3, 1959 until January 3, 1971. While in Congress, May served on the House Agriculture Committee, ranking member of the House Beauty Shop Committee, and the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. Though she avoided defining herself as an activist, May supported women’s rights legislation during her House career. Like other Washington state Republicans in the 1970 election, May faced voter discontent with the stagnant local economy and rising jobless rate for which Democrats successfully blamed the GOP and the Nixon administration. She lost her 1970 re-election bid by a ten point margin.

Months before the election, May had divorced her husband after six years of legal separation. She married a management consultant, Donald Bedell, shortly after her November 1970 loss. President Nixon appointed her as chair of the U.S. International Trade Commission, where she served from 1971 to 1975 and from 1979 to 1980. In 1982 the Ronald Reagan administration named May a special consultant to the President on the 50 States Project, an effort to weed out gender-discriminatory state laws. Catherine May Bedell passed away in Rancho Mirage, California, on May 28, 2004.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Bedell, Catherine May, 1914-2004. Papers, 1959-1970. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
referencedIn Washington-Oregon Canning Pear Association Records, 1953-1974 Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
referencedIn Lee, Glenn C. (Glenn Clifford). Papers, 1906-1992. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
creatorOf Franklin, Barbara Hackman. Oral history interview of Catherine May Bedell, circa 1997-2000. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
referencedIn Otis Halbert (Hal) Holmes Papers, 1943-1958 Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
referencedIn Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961, Papers, 1822, 1831, 1845, 1903-2007 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
referencedIn Glenn Lee Papers, 1906-1992 Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
creatorOf Bedell, Catherine May, 1914-2004. Oral history interview with Catherine May Bedell, 1979 March 1-1979 April 20 : recorded by Fern S. Ingersoll for Former Members of Congress, Inc. Washington State University, Holland and Terrell Libraries
referencedIn A Few Good Women Oral History collection Pennsylvania State University Libraries
referencedIn Indexed Register of Catherine May Congressional Papers, 1959-1970 Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Franklin, Barbara Hackman. person
associatedWith Holmes, Otis Halbert, 1902- person
associatedWith Ingersoll, Fern S. person
correspondedWith Lee, Glenn C. (Glenn Clifford) person
correspondedWith Lee, Glenn C., (Glenn Clifford) person
associatedWith Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961 person
memberOf United States. Congress. House corporateBody
associatedWith United States. National Commission on Food Marketing corporateBody
almaMaterOf University of Southern California. corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of Washington. corporateBody
associatedWith Washington-Oregon Canning Pear Association corporateBody
memberOf Washington (State). Legislature. House of Representatives corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Palm Desert CA US
Rancho Mirage CA US
Yakima WA US
Los Angeles CA US
Seattle WA US
Subject
United States
Legislators
Legislators
Occupation
Teachers
Broadcasters
Business Executive
Editors
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Secretaries
State Representative
Activity

Person

Birth 1914-05-18

Death 2004-05-28

Female

Americans

English

Information

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