Ruth Bryan Owen Rohde (1885-1954) was the first congresswoman from the South and the first woman to serve on a major congressional committee. In addition to championing women's issues in Congress, she was later active in international affairs, being the first American woman to hold a major diplomatic post.

Ruth Bryan Owen Rohde was born October 2, 1885, in Jacksonville, Illinois. Her father was William Jennings Bryan, three-time Democratic candidate for president. She grew up in a political atmosphere and learned politics and public speaking from her father, but she was deeply impressed by her mother, Mary Baird Bryan, a brilliant, college-educated woman who studied law and was admitted to the Nebraska bar in 1888. Ruth once declared that she wished to emulate her mother's mind and character. Ruth was five when her father was first elected to Congress in 1890, and she occasionally sat beside him on the House floor when...