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 sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

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

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 2,706 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the southwest corner of Whitehall Township. Montague is its neighbor. It is located on White Lake (act ...

and attended the public schools. She graduated from Muskegon Business College of nearby

Muskegon Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expan ...

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 ...

Muskegon County Muskegon County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, the population was 175,824. The county seat is Muskegon. Muskegon County comprises the Muskegon, MI Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Grand Rapids- ...

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 2010 ...

(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 An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

'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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Congress

In 1950, Thompson was elected as a Republican from

Michigan's 9th congressional district Michigan's 9th congressional district is a United States congressional district located in parts of Oakland County and Macomb County in the southeast areas of the State of Michigan. It includes the communities of Ferndale, Royal Oak, Hazel Par ...

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. 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, ...

. 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, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

) 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 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. The name was coined by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to sound like a Native American word. A ...

, 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 Michigan state court judges 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 politicians 20th-century American women judges