Florence Kahn (née Prag; November 9, 1866 – November 16, 1948) was an American teacher and politician who in 1925 became the first Jewish woman to serve in the United States Congress. She was only the fifth woman to serve in Congress, and the second from California, after fellow

San Franciscan San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Mae Nolan Mae Ella Nolan (September 20, 1886 – July 9, 1973) was an American politician who became the fourth woman to serve in the United States Congress, the first woman elected to Congress from California, the first woman to chair a Congressional ...

. Like Nolan, she took the seat in the House of Representatives left vacant by the death of her husband, Julius Kahn.

Life and career

Kahn was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Conrad and Mary Prag, Jewish Polish immigrants who befriended the Mormon leader Brigham Young, and sold supplies during the gold rush. Her family moved to San Francisco, California in 1869. She graduated from the San Francisco Girls' High School in 1883, and received an A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1887. She taught high school English and History at Lowell High School. She married Julius Kahn on March 19, 1899, who served in Congress until his death on December 18, 1924. She was his aide and, in parallel, she would write articles in the San Francisco Chronicle. Florence Prag Kahn Portrait

Florence Kahn was elected as a Republican to the

69th Congress The 69th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1925, ...

, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, who had just been re-elected to a 13th term. She was reelected to the 70th, 71st, 72nd, 73rd, and 74th Congresses, serving from December 7, 1925 to January 3, 1937. She replaced her husband and became the first woman on the House Military Affairs Committee. Kahn supported Herbert Hoover's unsuccessful campaign against

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

in the 1932 presidential election. She was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the

75th Congress The 75th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 ...

in 1936. Afterwards, Kahn actively tried to get women involved in politics. She was a member of the

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...

Hadassah Hadassah () means myrtle in Hebrew. It is given as the Hebrew name of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. Hadassah may also refer to: * Hadassah (dancer) (1909–1992), Jerusalem-born American dancer and choreographer * Hadassah Lieberman (born 1948) ...

and the Council of Jewish Women. She was a

Reform Jew Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

, and belonged to

Congregation Emanu-El Emanu-El (also spelled Emanuel) ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל ''imanuél'', " God swith us", from עִמָּנוּ ''imánu'', "with us" + אֵל ''el'', "God"), or Temple Emanuel, may refer to the following Jewish synagogues: Australia * Emanuel ...

of San Francisco. Kahn died in San Francisco on November 16, 1948, and was interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in Colma, California.

Location of source materials relating to Florence Prag Kahn

The

Western Jewish History Center The Western Jewish History Center existed as part of the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California, from 1967 to 2010. It is now the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, administered as part of the Bancroft Library, University of Califor ...

, of the

Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, formerly known as the Judah L. Magnes Museum from 1961 until its reopening in 2012, is a museum of Jewish history, art, and culture in Berkeley, California. The museum, which was founded in 1961 by Se ...

in Berkeley, California has a large collection of family papers, documents, correspondence, and photographs relating to Florence Prag Kahn and to her husband, Julius Kahn.

References

* * Seymour Brody. (1996)
Florence Prag Kahn
. ''Jewish heroes & heroines of America: 150 true stories of American Jewish heroism''. .
Florence Kahn: Congressional Widow to Trailblazing Lawmaker
''Multimedia presentation created by the Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.''

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Florence Prag 1866 births 1948 deaths American people of Polish-Jewish descent American Reform Jews University of California, Berkeley alumni Female members of the United States House of Representatives Women in California politics Reform Jewish feminists Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish women politicians Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Burials at Home of Peace Cemetery (Colma, California)

Life and career

Location of source materials relating to Florence Prag Kahn

See also

References

External links