Edith Irene Bailey Baker (November 17, 1901 – April 2, 1994) was an American politician and a

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. She was the widow of Howard Baker Sr. and the stepmother of Howard Baker Jr.

Biography

Baker was born in

Sevierville, Tennessee Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, United States, located in East Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among th ...

, on November 17, 1901, and attended public schools in Sevierville and Maryville.

Career

Baker served as Deputy County Court Clerk of Sevier County from 1918 to 1922 and as Deputy Clerk and Master of Chancery Court from 1922 to 1924. After her first husband's death, Baker went to work for the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

(TVA). On September 15, 1935, she married Howard Baker Sr., who was a widower with two children. The couple raised Baker's two children from his first marriage, Howard H. Baker Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Baker, as well as a daughter of their own, Beverly Irene Baker. She served on the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

from 1960 to 1964. When her husband died suddenly in office on January 7, 1964, Baker ran as a Republican in the special

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to fill the remainder of his term, defeating

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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Willard Yarbrough, a Knoxville journalist. As a candidate for the seat, she promised to serve only as a

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Occupations * Janitor (chiefly in the United States), a person who cleans and maintains buildings such as hospitals and schools * Property caretaker, a person who cares for a property * Caregiver or carer (UK), a person wh ...

who would not seek further election; and she fulfilled that promise, and served from March 10, 1964, to January 3, 1965. While in Congress, she served on the House Committee on Government Operations and advocated for a balanced federal budget. She also championed

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

interests, the TVA, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission programs in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

, and cost of living increases in

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

pensions. As one of ten Republicans from the South, she voted against the

Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Act may refer to several civil right acts in the United States. These acts of the United States Congress are meant to protect rights to ensure individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private ...

. After leaving Congress in 1965, Baker became Director of Public Welfare in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, a position she held until 1971.

Death

Baker died in

Loudon, Tennessee Loudon is a city in and the county seat of Loudon County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 6,001 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville, Tennessee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located in East Tennessee, so ...

on April 2, 1994 (age 92 years, 136 days). She is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at Sherwood Memorial Gardens, in

References

External links

Irene Bailey Baker
in ''Women in Congress, 1917–2006'', prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of History & Preservation, U. S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2006. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Irene 1901 births 1994 deaths Female members of the United States House of Representatives People from Sevierville, Tennessee Politicians from Knoxville, Tennessee Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Biography

Career

Death

See also

References

External links