January 9, 1929

Pearl Oldfield, the first woman from Arkansas to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, took office to serve the remainder of her late husband’s term in office plus the full term for which he was elected shortly before his death. The widow was named by the Democratic Central Committee to serve as the party’s nominee rather than having a special primary election. Challenged by an opponent from the Democratic Party who ran as an independent because he felt that a primary election should have been held, Oldfield won the election and served in the House until March 1931, more as a tribute to her husband’s memory than as evidence of advanced feminist ideas.