Mae Nolan

Mae Ella Nolan (née Hunt; September 20, 1886 – July 9, 1973) was an American politician who became the fourth woman to serve in the United States Congress, the first woman elected to Congress from California, the first woman to chair a Congressional committee, and the first to fill the seat left vacant by her husband's death. She took her seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1923.

Biography

Mae Ella Hunt was born in San Francisco, California on September 20, 1886. She attended public schools, St. Vincent's Convent, and Ayres Business College of San Francisco.

Nolan supported her late husband's agenda on minimum wage, child labor laws, and education. She distanced herself from the women's suffrage movement by dropping her membership in the Woman Suffrage Committee, depending on support from labor, which was unsupportive. Her primary concerns were improving wages and lowering taxes on workers while raising them for wealthy Americans, She also supported a bonus for World War I veterans.