Distinctly Montana Magazine

No scholar, she put party- ing ahead of her studies in biology at University of Montana, barely scrap- ing by to graduate with a major in which she had no interest. A willowy, chestnut haired beauty, she had plenty of beaux but declared early on that she had no intention of becoming a baby factory WITH HER CONGRESSIONAL WIN IN 1916, SHE ALSO BECAME THE FIRST WOMAN IN THE WORLD ELECTED TO A NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE BODY. like her mother and refused to marry. Teaching seemed to be her only option but she hated her first job in a one-room school next to the family ranch. A similar assignment in Whitehall, a bustling rail- road town in 1903, proved more entertaining because she fell in with a crowd of young professionals who organized delightful parties, concerts, literary presentations and the- atricals. However she apparently got into serious trouble of a romantic nature there—something her brother Wellington referred to mockingly as her "embarrass- ment"—and her teach- ing contract was not renewed. Some insist Jeannette survived an unwanted pregnancy or at least had fallen in love with a married man. There are hints of a lesbian affair. However, shortly thereafter, a tornado took out the Whitehall school with all its records, and the experience made the young woman so cautious that we know virtually nothing about her personal life from that point on. In 1907, having gotten her siblings through early child- hood and suffering a near-nervous breakdown, she visited friends in San Francisco where she began working in a settlement house. Then, motivated by social conscience, she graduated in very good standing from the New York School of Philanthropy and worked briefly as a social worker. Denied field assignments because of her sex by the Washington State agency with which she had contracted, she found herself consigned to babysitting children des- tined for foster homes from which they "could be returned like puppies," and angrily resigned. Indulge Relax Retreat Since her family money was under the control of her financially astute but tight-fisted brother, she signed up for courses in economics, political science and public speak- ing at the University of Washington, supporting herself as a seamstress. But it was an advertisement for volunteers to promote women's suffrage that changed her life. After working hard on a campaign that won women the vote in Washington State, she was hired by the New York Women Suffrage party, and was soon recognized nation- ally for her outstanding work in Oregon, Kansas, Arizona and her own home state. Following her successful campaign for suffrage in Mon- tana, Jeannette realized she could count on women's votes there in a public election. Her brother Wellington, now a highly successful lawyer who was entrenched in Republican politics, figured that winning a congressional seat wouldn't be enough for her. However he noted, Montana's population had increased to the point that the state suddenly qualified for two representatives, with candidates for both seats to run at large. All Jeannette would have to do was come in second. Brother and sister teamed up to make it happen. The press focused on Jeannette's good looks, high en- 406.551.2772 CANYONRIVERSPA.COM 76 ergy, luminous charms and extraordinary skill in public speaking, ignoring whispers of a Whitehall scandal and rumors that she was gay. Her coverage was mostly on the society page, but it was effective. With her Congressio- DISTINCTLY MONTANA • WINTER 2011

• Cover