Hattie Caraway at Her Desk in 1945
A New Chapter for Women in Politics
The January wind rattled the windows of the tiny Arkansas farmhouse, but twelve-year-old Lila Mae Carter barely noticed. She sat cross-legged on the floor, a newspaper spread across her lap, her eyes darting over the bold headline.
“HATTIE CARAWAY ELECTED TO UNITED STATES SENATE.”
Her mother, apron dusted with flour, glanced over. “You’re awful quiet over there, baby. What’s got you starin’ so hard at that paper?”
Lila Mae’s voice trembled with excitement. “Mama… a woman won. Not just appointed—elected. She won on her own.”
Her mother smiled softly. “Yes, she surely did. Senator Caraway. First woman to sit in that chamber because the people chose her.”
Lila Mae pressed the paper to her chest. She imagined the Senate chamber—tall ceilings, echoing footsteps, laws being shaped with every vote. And now, right there among the men in dark suits, a woman standing tall.
“Do you think…” Lila Mae hesitated. “Do you think someone like me could do that one day?”
Mama paused, leaning against the counter. “Why couldn’t you? You’re smart. You’ve got fire in you. And now you’ve got proof a woman can sit in the same chairs the men do.”
Just then, the front door opened with a burst of cold air. Her father stomped snow off his boots. “What’s all this I’m hearing?” he asked, setting his lunch pail down. “Town’s buzzin’ like a beehive.”
Lila Mae jumped up, waving the paper. “Daddy, Hattie Caraway got elected! They voted for her! She’s a real senator now!”
Her father raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Well, I’ll be. That’s somethin’. Didn’t think we’d see a woman in that chamber so soon.”
Lila Mae hurried to him. “Daddy, does this mean girls can be senators? Really be senators?”
He crouched down so they were eye level. “It means the world’s finally catchin’ up to what you already are, honey. Capable. Strong. And worth listenin’ to.”
Her eyes glowed. “I wanna be like her. I wanna stand up and make laws and speak for people who don’t get heard.”
Mama chuckled. “You already do that at school. Didn’t you convince your teacher to give the girls a turn at leading morning announcements?”
“That was just practice,” Lila Mae said proudly. “This… this is real.”
Daddy tousled her hair. “Well then, Senator Carter, you’d better keep readin’ that paper. Keep learnin’. The country’s gonna need folks like you.”
Lila Mae straightened her shoulders like she imagined Senator Caraway must’ve done that morning. She lifted the newspaper again, her voice full of hope.
“One day,” she said softly, “I’m gonna walk into that big room in Washington. And I won’t be the only girl, either.”
Mama placed a warm hand on her daughter’s back. “And when you do, you remember this day. The day a door opened—and you decided to walk through it.”
Outside, the winter wind swept across the fields, carrying with it a new kind of promise—one Lila Mae intended to follow all the way to the Capitol.
Historical Synopsis
On November 6, 1931, U.S. Senator Thaddeus H. Caraway of Arkansas died in office, creating a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. Following established practice in Arkansas, Governor Harvey Parnell appointed Hattie Wyatt Caraway—her husband’s widow—to fill the seat temporarily; she was sworn in on December 8, 1931.
A special election was held on January 12, 1932, to fill out the remainder of the term, and Caraway won decisively—thereby becoming the first woman ever elected to the United States Senate. Her margin of victory was overwhelming, with reports indicating she obtained over 90 percent of the vote in that special election.
Soon after, she announced a campaign for a full term in the regular November 1932 election. With campaign assistance from Louisiana Senator Huey P. Long, she prevailed in the Democratic primary and then won the general election later that year—solidifying her place in history as the first woman to be elected to a full term in the Senate.
Her election marked a significant milestone for women’s participation in U.S. politics, breaking the barrier of the Senate’s “exclusive club” and showing that female candidates could win high-office elections in their own right.
This story is based on documented historical records and contemporaneous accounts
Works Cited
“Caraway, Hattie Wyatt.” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, U.S. House of Representatives, https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/C000138. Bioguide
“Hattie Caraway (1878–1950).” Encyclopedia of Arkansas, 7 Aug. 2025, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/hattie-ophelia-wyatt-caraway-1278/. Encyclopedia of Arkansas
“Election Certificate of Hattie Caraway.” National Archives, 22 July 2019, https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/hattie-caraway.