The politics of persuasion: the language and limits of gender reform in the career of Rebecca Latimer Felton

Rebecca Latimer Felton, 1835-1930, was the first female senator in the United States. In 1922, when Felton was 87, the governor of Georgia appointed her to fill the position vacated at the death of the previous senator. Upon receiving the appointment, Felton declared that it was a sign that the men of Georgia recognized the achievements and efforts of Georgia women. Only two years earlier, however, Georgia had been the first state to refuse to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. The senatorial appointment, ironic as it was, allowed Felton to retell the story of her own efforts for gender equity as a linear, progressive narrative, one in which the position seemed an appropriate capstone. This thesis traces topography of Feltons long career seeking gender equity, with particular attention to her rhetorical tactics, her successful public persona, and her many oft-overlooked failings.