Willa Blake Eslick Explained

Willa McCord Blake Eslick
Image Name:Willa McCord Blake Eslick.jpg
State:Tennessee
District:7th
Party:Democratic
Term Start:August 13, 1932
Term End:March 3, 1933
Preceded:Edward E. Eslick
Succeeded:Gordon Browning
Birth Name:Willa McCord Blake
Birth Date:8 September 1878
Birth Place:Fayetteville, Tennessee
Death Place:Pulaski, Tennessee
Spouse:Edward E. Eslick
Alma Mater:Dick White College
Milton College

Willa Eslick (née McCord Blake; September 8, 1878 – February 18, 1961) was a U.S. Representative from Tennessee, wife of Edward Everett Eslick and the first woman to represent Tennessee in the United States Congress.

Biography

Born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, Eslick was the daughter of George Washington and Eliza McCord Blake.[1] She attended private schools, including Dick White College and Milton College in Fayetteville, Tennessee, as well as Winthrop Model School and Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. She also attended the Metropolitan College of Music and Synthetic School of Music in New York City. She served as a member of the Tennessee state Democratic committee,[2] and was the first woman elected to Congress from Tennessee. She married Edward Everett Eslick on June 6, 1906.[3]

Career

Eslick was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death in office of her husband, Representative Edward Eslick. Eslick served as a Representative from August 14, 1932, until March 3, 1933.[4] She was not eligible for reelection to the Seventy-third Congress, not having qualified for nomination as required by state law.

Death

Eslick died on February 18, 1961, in Pulaski, Tennessee, at age 82 years, 163 days. She is interred at Maplewood Cemetery. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Order of the Eastern Star.[5]

See also

External links


Notes and References

  1. Web site: Willa McC. Blake Eslick. Ancestry.com. 7 May 2013.
  2. Web site: Willa McC. Blake Eslick. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 7 May 2013.
  3. Web site: Willa McC. Blake Eslick. Office of the Historian. 7 May 2013.
  4. Web site: Willa McC. Blake Eslick. Govtrack US Congress. 7 May 2013.
  5. Web site: Willa McC. Blake Eslick. The Political Graveyard. 7 May 2013.