Gracie Bowers Pfost (March 12, 1906 – August 11, 1965) was the first woman to represent

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, serving five terms as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Pfost represented the state's 1st district from 1953 to 1963.

Early years

Born in an

Ozark Mountain The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

log cabin in

Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, Pfost was five when her parents moved to a farm near

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

, in 1911. One of five siblings, she quit Meridian High School at 16 in 1922 and worked as a milk analyst at a dairy in Nampa. The next year she married her supervisor, Jack Pfost, who was more than twice her age. She graduated from Link's Business College in Boise in 1929. Pfost entered politics in Canyon County; she held several positions in county government between 1929 and 1951, including deputy county clerk, auditor,

recorder of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...

, and county treasurer. She also served as an Idaho delegate to all Democratic National Conventions between 1944 and 1960. The Pfosts ran a real estate business in the 1940s and into the 1950s.

Congress

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

, Pfost ran for Congress and won the Democratic nomination over Harry Wall of Lewiston, but narrowly lost to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

John Travers Wood John Travers Wood (November 25, 1878 – November 2, 1954) was an American physician and politician who served as a one-term congressman from northern Idaho. Early life and education Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Wood immigrated with ...

, a physician from Coeur d'Alene. In

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, she defeated former eight-term Congressman Compton White, Sr. of Clark Fork in the Democratic primary and unseated Wood in another close general election. Pfost was reelected in 1954,

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

. The "Hell's Belle" of Congress, she was a moderately liberal Democrat, who earned her nickname in her first year, fighting for a large federal dam on the Snake River in

Hells Canyon Hells Canyon is a canyon in the Western United States, located along the border of eastern Oregon, a small section of eastern Washington and western Idaho. It is part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area which is also located in p ...

. After years of debate, the single high dam was ultimately defeated and built as a three-dam complex ( Brownlee,

Oxbow __NOTOC__ An oxbow is a U-shaped metal pole (or larger wooden frame) that fits the underside and the sides of the neck of an ox or bullock. A bow pin holds it in place. The term " oxbow" is widely used to refer to a U-shaped meander in a rive ...

) by the local private utility, Idaho Power. Source:

Run for Senate

Though her House seat was considered secure, the death of

Henry Dworshak Henry Clarence Dworshak Jr. (August 29, 1894July 23, 1962) was a United States Senator and Congressman from Idaho. Originally from Minnesota, he was a Republican from Burley, and served over 22 years in the House and Senate. Early years Born in ...

in July

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

prompted Pfost to run for his seat in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. She was the Democratic nominee in the special election, but was narrowly defeated (51%-49%) by the appointed Republican incumbent, former Governor Len Jordan. The election took place shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis of late October; Jordan was re-elected in 1966 and retired at the end of that term, in early 1973. Pfost's congressional seat was won by six points by Democrat Compton White, Jr. of Clark Fork, the 41-year-old namesake son of the late eight-term congressman. Idaho's other House seat also went to young Democrat, as 33-year-old Ralph Harding of Blackfoot won a second term. Idaho's other U.S. Senate seat ( class 3) was also on the ballot, with 38-year-old Democrat Frank Church of Boise re-elected to the second of four terms. To date, Dworshak's seat ( class 2), earlier held by

William Borah William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in Idaho's history. A progressive who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, Borah is often co ...

for over three decades, has been continuously held by Republicans for over seventy years (since October 1949), and Idaho has yet to elect a woman to the U.S. Senate. :

Death

After leaving the House in 1963, Pfost remained in Washington and worked in the

Federal Housing Administration The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...

as a special assistant on housing for the elderly. She was hospitalized in Washington with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in October and a few months later at

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 m ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Later diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, Pfost was admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital several times in 1965, and died there on August 11 at age 59. Pfost's husband Jack (1883–1961) died of a heart attack four years earlier, at her Washington office during her last term in Congress. They did not have children and are buried at Meridian Cemetery in

Meridian, Idaho Meridian is a city located in Ada County in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population of Meridian was 117,635, making it the second largest city in Idaho after Boise. Meridian is considered the state's fastest-growing city ...

, near her parents, William L. and Lily E. Wood Bowers, and other family members.

References

External links