Distinctly Montana Magazine

THE UNEXPECTED JEANNETTE RANKIN BY LAEL MORGAN J eannette Rankin has been all but deified by many historians, dazzled by the fact that she was the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress. And also because the Montana girl was a dedi- cated dove, casting her very first vote against America's entry into World War I in 1917 with 50 of her House col- leagues, and the only member of Congress to vote "No!" again on our entry into World War II. She remains so admired there are bronze statues of her at the Montana state capital in Helena and in Emancipa- tion Hall in Washington, D.C. So why, you might ask, are there odd blanks in her personal history that still provide the basis for intriguing rumors nearly four decades after her death? And why did Rankin choose to live the majority of her long life outside of her home state? The Missoula girl was born in 1880, the first of John and Olive Rankin's seven children, and her wealthy father's favorite. A builder by trade with a gift for investment and ranching, he taught her carpentry, and animal husbandry but also expected her to fill in for her perpetually pregnant mother as a homemaker. To please him, young Jeannette ably shouldered the load, which included helping Rankin run his hotel and serving as cook for a lumber camp in which he invested. "If you can take care of Jeannette, I can take care of the rest of the children," the former schoolteacher promised her husband. But even that became too much. Sick with some undefined malady (probably thyroid), Olive devel- oped a laissez-fair attitude toward childcare and Jeannette took over the management of her bickering but precocious siblings with a dedication that some- times seemed harsh. Jeannette sewed their cloth- ing, helped with their home- work, took care of her com- plaining mother and nursed her father when he was dying of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in 1904. Then her brilliant brother Wellington, just 20 and a student at Harvard University, took on their father's role while Jean- nette became his Montana arm in addition to her other family duties. DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/lael121 for an interview with Lael about her book. Meanwhile, the girl struggled to create a life of her own. AS BRIGHT AS SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL AND PASSIONATE, RANKIN WAS, BEYOND A DOUBT, AN EXCITING WOMAN. SHE WAS ALSO, IN THE TERMS OF HER TIME, AN "OLD MAID," WHICH CERTAINLY DOESN'T ADD UP. www.distinctlymontana.com 75

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