Rose Long (née McConnell; April 8, 1892May 27, 1970) was an American politician who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, and the wife of

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

. She was the third woman to ever serve as a U.S. Senator, and the first from

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Life and work

Rose Long at desk with photograph of Huey P

Rose McConnell was born in

Greensburg, Indiana Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Decatur County, Indiana. The population was 11,492 at the time of the 2010 census. History Greensburg was laid out in 1822. The founder, Thomas Hendricks Sr.'s wife being a native of Greensburg, ...

. She met Huey Long after she won a cake baking contest that he had organized to promote a product he was selling at the time. After a two-and-a-half year courtship, Rose and Huey were married in 1913. The next year he turned to the study of law, and became a lawyer after passing the bar. They had three children together. Huey Long became a highly successful politician, elected as governor of Louisiana in 1928 and then US Senator from Louisiana in 1930. After Huey's assassination in 1935, in an example of

widow's succession Widow's succession was a political practice prominent in some countries in the early part of the 20th century, by which a politician who died in office was directly succeeded by their widow, either through election or direct appointment to the se ...

, Rose was appointed to serve in his seat in the United States Senate until a special election could be held. She won the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

on April 21, 1936, to serve the remaining months of her husband's term, but was not a candidate that fall for re-election to a full six-year term. Because

Hattie Caraway Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway (February 1, 1878 – December 21, 1950) was an Americans, American politician who became the first woman elected to serve a full term as a United States Senate, United States Senator. Caraway represented Arkansas. Sh ...

(D-Arkansas) was already serving in the Senate when Rose Long was elected, it marked the first time that two women had ever served simultaneously in that body. Rose Long died in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

, in 1970, where she lived near her daughter, Rose Lolita Long McFarland. She was also survived by her sons, Palmer Reid Long of

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, and

Russell B. Long Russell Billiu Long (November 3, 1918 – May 9, 2003) was an American Democratic politician and United States Senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987. Because of his seniority, he advanced to chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, servin ...

, then the sitting

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from Louisiana.

Legacy

Mrs. Long was portrayed by

Ann Dowd Ann Dowd (born January 30, 1956) is an American actress. She has played supporting roles in numerous films, including ''Green Card'' (1990), ''Lorenzo's Oil'' (1992), ''Philadelphia'' (1993), '' Garden State'' (2004), '' The Manchurian Candidate' ...

in the 1995 television movie '' Kingfish: A Story of Huey Long.'' On February 1, 2014, Mrs. Long was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

inducted into the

Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame located in Winnfield, Louisiana. Created by a 1987 act of the Louisiana State Legislature, it honors the best-known politicians and political journalists in the state. H ...

Winnfield Winnfield is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census, and 4,840 in 2010. Three governors of the state of Louisiana were from Winnfield.

. Six others were honored as well, including John S. Hunt II, son of her sister-in-law Lucille Long Hunt, and who had served on the Public Service Commission from 1964 to 1972. Robert "Bob" Mann, press secretary to Senator

, was also inducted.

References

External links

Rose McConnell Long (1892–1970)

Find A Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

Memorial , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Rose Mcconnell 1892 births 1970 deaths Burials in Louisiana Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana First Ladies and Gentlemen of Louisiana

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

Louisiana Democrats Female United States senators Politicians from Boulder, Colorado People from Greensburg, Indiana Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Women in Louisiana politics

Life and work

Legacy

See also

References

External links