West Virginia Women

Floor Speech

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Speaker, women have played a significant role in our Nation's history and in my home State of West Virginia. I would like to recognize a few who have had wonderful achievements in art, literature, sports, government, education, and volunteerism.

Anna Johnson Gates was the first female elected to the State legislature from Kanawha County; Elizabeth Drewry, the first African American elected to the legislature from McDowell County, West Virginia; Elizabeth Kee, the first woman elected to Congress from Bluefield, West Virginia.

One West Virginian has given us a national holiday--Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day, from Grafton, West Virginia.

In the sciences, Dr. Harriet Jones broke down barriers to become the first licensed physician in West Virginia from Marshall County.

We have two women who reached the very pinnacle of their field. Novelist Pearl Buck, from Hillsboro, West Virginia, won the Nobel Prize for literature. In athletics, no one could forget West Virginia's own Mary Lou Retton when she made history by achieving her perfect 10s in 1984.

The stories of West Virginian women and all women must be told. That is why I support H.R. 863, the National Women's History Commission Act.

It is my privilege to talk about so many wonderful West Virginia women.

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