Ruth Hanna McCormick (1880-1944)

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of a Republican political heavyweight, Mark Hanna. She was also a first cousin of Mrs. Kate (Hanna) Ireland who built the Pebble Hill Plantation. Having been immersed in political life since childhood, she became a dedicated suffragist and worked tirelessly for women's voting rights, becoming a key organizer for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After the 19th Amendment was passed, she focused her energies on Republican Party politics, serving as the Republican National Committeewoman for Illinois before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1928. In 1930, she became the first woman nominated for the U.S. Senate by a major political party, but she lost the general election. Outside of politics, she owned and operated several newspapers in Illinois. She was married twice, to two politicians: U.S. Senator from Illinois and co-owner of the Chicago Tribune, J. Medill McCormick, and seven years after he died she married the also widowed Albert Gallatin Simms, U.S. Congressman from New Mexico. She had three children by her first marriage.