Edith Nourse Rogers

Recommended Articles

  • The 1960s

    The 1960s

    Discontent, rebellion and social change defined the 1960s in the United States, shaking the country to its core.

  • Anna Adams Gordon

    (born July 21, 1853, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.—died June 15, 1931, Castile, New York) American social reformer who was a strong and effective force in the American temperance movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

  • Jeannette Rankin

    (1880-1973), suffragist, pacifist, and congresswoman.

  • Edith Wilson

    Edith Wilson

    Edith Wilson was an American first lady who took over many presidential duties when her husband Woodrow suffered a stroke.

(Born March 19, 1881, Saco, Maine, U.S.—died Sept. 10, 1960, Boston, Mass.) American public official, longtime U.S. congressional representative from Massachusetts, perhaps most remembered for her work with veterans affairs.

Edith Nourse was educated at Rogers Hall School in Lowell, Massachusetts, and at Madame Julien's School in Paris. In 1907 she married John J. Rogers of Lowell. After his election to Congress in 1912, they lived in Washington, D.C. During World War I she was active in volunteer work for the YMCA and the Red Cross, and in 1917 she served abroad for a time with the Women's Overseas League. Her work in military hospitals, notably Walter Reed Hospital in 1918–22, and her inspections with her husband of field and base hospitals, led to her appointment by President Warren G. Harding as his personal representative to visit veterans and military hospitals throughout the country in 1922.

Rogers served President Calvin Coolidge in a similar capacity in 1923 and President Herbert Hoover in 1929. Following her husband's death in 1925, she was elected to fill his unexpired term in Congress. In 1926 she was elected to a full term, and she was reelected regularly thereafter, serving in all 35 years as the representative of the Fifth District of Massachusetts. She was the first congresswoman from New England. Her earlier work led naturally to her appointment to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, of which she was chairman in the 80th and 83rd congresses. She introduced the legislation, passed in March 1942 and in force two months later, that created the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women's Army Corps). In 1944 she helped draft the GI Bill of Rights for veterans. She served also on the post office, civil service, and foreign affairs committees.

Copyright © 1994-2011 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com.

Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

Advertisement

This Day in History

Feb 9

Lead Story

Satchel Paige nominated to Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971

On this day in 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that…

Shop HISTORY