
According to the Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), “118 women hold seats in the House of Representatives, comprising 27.1% of the 435 members in 2021. The women represent 36 states; 87 are Democrats and 31 are Republicans.”
The first woman to be elected to the U. S. Congress House of Representatives was Jeannette L. Rankin. This was in 1916. In 1917, she, along with 49 other members of the House of Representatives voted against U.S entry into World War I. This destroyed her chances of reelection in 1918. She then ran for the Senate in 1918 and was defeated. For the next twenty years, she campaigned for peace. In 1940, she won her second term in Congress. During this term, she served with six other female members, including Margaret Chase Smith. Since then, the number of women in the House has increased and today, there are 118 women in the House.
Sources:
Jeannette Rankin, United States Senate
Women in the U.S. House of Representatives 2021, Rutgers CAWP Center for American Women in Politics
Photograph Credit: Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, Call Number: BIOG FILE – Rankin, Jeannette [item] [P&P], Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-8422 (b&w film copy neg.).