Janice Lenore Meyers ( née Crilly; July 20, 1928 – June 21, 2019) was an American Republican party politician and a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Biography

Meyers was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

. She attended public schools in

Superior, Nebraska Superior is a city in Nuckolls County, Nebraska, Nuckolls County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city population was 1,957. Superior bills itself as the "Victorian Capital of Nebraska", and holds a ...

, and attended William Woods College in

Fulton, Missouri Fulton is the largest city in and the county seat of Callaway County, Missouri, United States. Located about northeast of Jefferson City and the Missouri River and east of Columbia, the city is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri, Metropolita ...

. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

in 1951. From 1951 until 1954, she worked as an advertising and public relations assistant for a radio station in Omaha and a department store in

. From 1967 to 1972, she was a city councilwoman in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As ...

. From 1972 until 1984, she was a member of the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

. In 1978, she ran for the

United States 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 ...

, but was defeated in a multi-candidate Republican primary which was won by Nancy Landon Kassebaum. In 1984, she was elected as a member of the Republican Party to the

99th United States Congress The 99th 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, D.C., from January 3, 1 ...

and to the five succeeding Congresses. She served from January 3, 1985, until January 3, 1997. During the

104th United States Congress The 104th 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, D.C. from January 3, 19 ...

, she was the chairwoman of the United States House Committee on Small Business. She was not a candidate for re-election to the

105th United States Congress The 105th 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, 1997, ...

. She was the first Republican woman elected to the U.S. House from Kansas. Her son, Phil Meyers, ran for a congressional seat in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

in 2000 as a Republican against Rep.

Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a graduate of Union College and th ...

, but was defeated. Meyers died from heart disease on June 21, 2019, at a hospital in Merriam, Kansas.

References

External links

Women in Congress: Jan Meyers
* , - 1928 births 2019 deaths Female members of the United States House of Representatives Kansas city council members Republican Party Kansas state senators Politicians from Lincoln, Nebraska People from Superior, Nebraska Politicians from Overland Park, Kansas Businesspeople from Nebraska Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Women state legislators in Kansas Women city councillors in Kansas 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Deaths from heart disease {{Kansas-politician-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links