Andrea Garman, age 15, of Chester, Penn., for her question:

WHO WAS THE FIRST WOMAN IN THE U.S. CONGRESS?

A woman named Jeannette Rankin was the first of her sex to be elected to the United States Congress. A Republican, she served from 1917 until 1919 as a congressman at large from the state of Montana.

In 1940, Rankin was elected to the House of Representatives for another term.  

Rankin voted against United States participation in World War I and she was the only member of the House to vote against entering World War II.

Jeanette Rankin was born in 1880 near Missoula, Mont. She studied at the University of Montana and also at the School of Philanthropy in New York City.

Rankin died in 1973 at the age of 93.