Evening star., 1950-12-21
Served for Is Years
After Appointment
To Succeed Husband
BY the Associated Press

10 SuCCeed huSbond
BY the Associated Press
Mrs. Hattie Caraway, 70, o.
Arkansas, first woman ever electec
to the United States Senate, dice
today at White Hall Sanitarium al
Falls Church, Va.
She had been i'll since January
II. Her condition took a turr
for the worse January 18 wher
she had a stroke which left hel
partly paralyZed.
Mrs. CaraWay was q member o.
the Federal Employees Compensa.
ton Appeals Board at the time o1
her death.
She was a Senator for slightly
more than 13 years during the
administration of the late Presi.
dent Franklin D. Roosevelt.
A Democrat, Mrs. Caraway went
to the Senate November 13, 1881
by appointment to succeed hel
late husband, Thaddeus Caraway
Later she won one special ano
two regular elections.
| Mrs. Caraway was not the first
woman to sit in the United States
Senate. In 1922, when Senator
Tom Watson died, the Governor
of Georgia appointed Mrs. Re-
becca FELTON,, a publisher. to fin.
ish the term. Mrs. FELTON, sal
in the Senate for two days al
the end of a session. She was
succeeded by the regularly elected
Senator, Walter George.
First to Be Elected.
But Mrs. Caraway was the first
woman to be elected to the Sen
ate and the first to preside over
that body.
Her husband was known for his
acidulouS contributions to debate
He was one of the most painful
of the thorns in the side of the
Hoover Administration during the
depression.
There was a riot in England
Ark. early in the depression
which was termed a food riot
President Hoover opposed the idea
of the States obtaining money
from the Federal Government fol-
relief. Senator Thad Caraway
and his colleagues were quick tx
point out that the Federal Gov
ernment was advancing money tt
feed cattle; refusing to do so te
feed human beings.
| Thad Caraway woulc have beer
leading figure in the Roosevelt
New Deal, but he died suddenly
in November. 1881. Gov. Harvey
Parnell appointed the widow te
serve until a special election coule
be called to fill the unexpiree
term. Thus one of the most vo.
ciferously effective positions OF
the Democratic side Of the aisle
became a silent one for years
Senator Hattie Caraway was il
almost constant attendance. Sht
rarely said a word.
Huey Long in Campaign.
A special election was scheduled
for January IL, 1882. There wa
opposition in the State Demo
cratic Committee to extending tn,
courtesy appointment of tn,
widow by electing her to the 81
months remaining of her hus.
bands term. But friends of Thac
Caraway beat down the opposi-
ton, who wanted to nominate ths
late Frank Pace, vice president o.
the American Bar Association anc
father of Frank Pace, jr., now tht
budget director of the Unites
States.
There was no opposition in tht
special election, but the field wa
considered open for the full-tern
nomination in the primary o1
1882. When Mrs. Caraway an
nounced her intention to go after
it, Arkansas political prognosti.
Gators did not give her a chance
There were half a dozen candi-
dates.
Then one day Senator Hues
Long Unexpectedly stopped in hel
Office in the Senate Office Build
ing and said:
I'm going to support you ir
this primary"
He crossed the border with his
sound trucks and a one-clowr
circus and campaigned the whole
State. Mrs. Caraway won the
primary hands down. ,
One of the things she resented
most was the conclusion that she
was Huey Longs other vote ir
the Senate. Senate roll calls otter
showed her casting her vote ir
opposition to Longs measures
She said Senator Long rarely
asked her to vote with him anc
that. when he did, she didn't
agree to do SO, unless she be-
lieved the measure merited hel
support.
Gained Labor Support.
Another thing she especially
did not like was the term mouse
like" that kept getting into the
newspapers. From the press gal
lery. she seemed a tiny figure in
black among the much larger
men about her, and her silence
suggested the sirnile to writer
after writer.
At the end of her first full
term. she was a successful poll.
tician in her own right. She hac
the support of organized labor
When the issue of prevailing
wage" versus subsistence wage
came up under the work relie1
program, she voted for the form.