Ruth Thompson (September 15, 1887 – April 5, 1970) was a Republican politician from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. A lawyer by profession, she served three terms in the

United States House of Representatives 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 1951 to 1957.

Biography

Ruth Thompson-Moshe Sharett-Francis Walter-John Rooney1955

Early life and education

Thompson was born in

Whitehall, Michigan Whitehall is a city in Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,909 at the 2020 census. The city is located to the west of Whitehall Township. Montague is its neighbor. History It is located on White Lake (actual ...

, and attended the public schools. She graduated from Muskegon Business College of nearby Muskegon in 1905, and became a lawyer with a private practice.

Early career

She was registrar of

probate court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts o ...

of Muskegon County and judge of probate from 1925 to 1937. She gained national recognition as an advocate for children's rights during that period. She was elected the county's first female state representative in 1938 and served as a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

(Muskegon County 1st district) from 1939 to 1941. Thompson then served on the Social Security Board, 1941–1942; staff for United States Labor Department, 1942; United States Adjutant General's Office, 1942–1946; and then member and chair of the Michigan state Prison Commission for Women. During and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she worked as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., and in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Congress

In 1950, Thompson was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 9th congressional district to the 82nd Congress and subsequently re-elected to the two succeeding Congresses serving from January 3, 1951, to January 3, 1957, in the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

. She was the first woman to represent Michigan in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the first woman to serve on the

House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, f ...

. On February 26, 1954, Thompson introduced legislation to ban mailing "obscene, lewd, lascivious or filthy" phonograph (

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

) records. She was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination to the 85th Congress in 1956, being defeated by fellow Republican Robert P. Griffin and returned to her home in Whitehall.

Death

Ruth Thompson died in Plainwell Sanitorium in

Allegan County, Michigan Allegan County ( ) is a Counties of the United States, county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 120,502. The county seat is Allegan, Michigan, Allegan. The name was coined by Henry Rowe Schoo ...

, and was interred in Oakhurst Cemetery of Whitehall.

References

External links

The Political Graveyard
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Ruth 1887 births 1970 deaths Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Female members of the United States House of Representatives Probate court judges in the United States Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan Women state legislators in Michigan People from Whitehall, Michigan 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American women judges 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives