Hattie Wyatt Caraway

Hattie Wyatt Caraway. . , Hattle Caraway made history in 1932 as the first woman elected to the United States Senate. A Tennessee native, she married fellow Dickson College student Thaddeus Caraway in 1902 and settled in Jonesboro, where he practiced law and entered politics. Hattie concentrated on her family and continued after her husband was elected to Congress. On Thaddeus Caraway's death in 1931. Hattle was elected in January of 1932 to fill her husband's Senate seat for the remainder of his term. Aided by Louisiana's "Kingfish." Huey Long, she was elected to a full term in November of 1932. She was elected to a second full term in 1938., She secured several defense facilities in Arkansas during World War II and became the first woman in the Senate to cosponsor the proposed Equal Rights Amendment., Hattie Caraway received the first honorary degree from what was then Arkansas State College and served as president of the A-State Alumni Association., With the placement of this official marker, the Arkansas 250 Commission, appointed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, recognizes this site for the events that occurred here, as among the most significant in Arkansas history. It was chosen by the commission for the consequential role played in Arkansas history in the 250 years from the birth of American Independence to the semiquincentennial celebration on July 4, 2026.