About Edith Nourse Rogers
Edith Rogers (née Nourse; March 19, 1881 – September 10, 1960) was an American social welfare volunteer and Republican Party politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States House of Representatives from 1925 until her death in 1960. She was the first woman elected to Congress from New England, the longest-serving woman in Congress until 2012, and the longest-serving woman in the House of Representatives until 2018. Rogers was born in Maine and educated by private tutors before attending Rogers Hall School and a finishing school in France. Her 1907 marriage to John Jacob Rogers drew her into politics, and her husband was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1912 as a member of the Republican Party. During World War I, the couple traveled to Europe as part of his duties on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and brief enlistment as a private in 1918. While in London and France, Edith Rogers volunteered with the American Red Cross and was first exposed to the suffering of wounded soldiers; she continued as a Red Cross volunteer upon return to the United States at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In 1925, John Rogers died in office, and Edith was recruited by the Republican Party and American Legion to run for his vacant seat in a special election. She defeated former Massachusetts governor Eugene Foss in an electoral landslide, becoming the sixth woman elected to Congress. As a U.S. representative for the next 35 years, Rogers sponsored critical legislation in support of veterans during World War II, including the Serviceman's Readjustment Act and the bills creating the Women's Auxiliary Corps and Women's Army Corps. After the war, she chaired the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for two crucial terms.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.