Pearl P. Oldfield

Fannie Pearl Oldfield (née Peden; December 2, 1876 – April 12, 1962) was an American Democratic politician and the United States representative from Arkansas's 2nd congressional district from 1929 to 1931. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Arkansas. In 1929, she replaced her husband, a congressman who died in office; Oldfield finished the last three months of his term and served one more before declining to run for re-election.

Early life Oldfield was born Fannie Pearl Peden in Cotton Plant, Arkansas to J. A. and Helen Hill Peden, who had five children. She went to Arkansas College in Batesville. She faced only one opponent, a man running as an independent, and she won the special election on January 9, 1929 and was sworn in on the 11th to finish her husband's term in the 70th United States Congress. "There are so many other things a woman can do that a man can't," she told an interviewer. "Why not do them and let the men do what they can?"

Later life Oldfield's mother moved in with her in Washington, D.C., in 1914, and after leaving Congress Oldfield remained in Washington to care for her. After her mother's death in 1933, Oldfield lived in retirement in Washington, where she was involved in several civic and charitable organizations. She died in Washington on April 12, 1962.