| Mae Nolan | |
| State: | California |
| Term Start: | January 23, 1923 |
| Term End: | March 3, 1925 |
| Predecessor: | John Nolan |
| Successor: | Lawrence Flaherty |
| Birth Date: | 20 September 1886 |
| Death Place: | Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | John Nolan |
| Education: | Ayres Business College |
Mae Ella Nolan (September 20, 1886 - July 9, 1973) was an American politician who became the fourth woman to serve in the United States Congress, the first woman elected to Congress from California, the first woman to chair a Congressional committee, and the first to fill the seat left vacant by her husband's death. She took her seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1923.[1] [2] [3]
Mae Nolan was born in San Francisco, California, and attended public schools, St. Vincent's Convent, and Ayres Business College[4] of San Francisco.[1]
Nolan was elected as a Republican to the 67th Congress by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, John Ignatius Nolan, on November 18, 1922. She served in the 67th and 68th Congresses, from January 23, 1923, to March 3, 1925.[1]
Nolan was the fourth woman elected to Congress, after Jeannette Rankin, Alice Mary Robertson, and Winnifred Sprague Mason Huck. All four were elected as Republicans to the House of Representatives. Nolan was a Catholic, hence she was the first woman from such a background who served in the federal legislature.[2] [2]
Nolan was the first woman elected to her husband's seat in Congress, which is sometimes known as the "widow's succession". As of 2004, 36 widows have won their husbands' seats in the House, and 8 in the Senate.[2] [5]
Nolan supported her late husband's agenda on minimum wage, child labor laws, and education. She distanced herself from the women's suffrage movement by dropping her membership in the Woman Suffrage Committee, depending on support from labor, which was unsupportive. Her primary concerns were improving wages and lowering taxes on workers while raising them wealthy Americans, She also supported a bonus for World War I veterans.[2]
During her term, she was the chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department. She was not a candidate for renomination in 1924 to the 69th Congress, saying that "Politics is entirely too masculine to have any attraction for feminine responsibilities".[2]
Nolan moved to Sacramento, California in her later years, where she died on 9 July 1973 at age 86.
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