{"id":2736,"date":"2024-09-10T16:44:42","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T20:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/miwf.org\/?post_type=mwhof&p=2736"},"modified":"2024-09-10T16:44:42","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T20:44:42","slug":"ruth-thompson","status":"publish","type":"mwhof","link":"https:\/\/miwf.org\/celebrating-women\/michigan-womens-hall-of-fame\/ruth-thompson\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruth Thompson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(1887 \u2013 1970)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although women earned the right to vote in the United States in 1920, it was not until 1951, three decades later, that Michigan had its first female member of the U.S. Congress, Ruth Thompson, a Republican from Whitehall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson\u2019s career of political firsts began with a firing. The self-taught lawyer became Muskegon County\u2019s first elected female probate court judge after running for the position against her employer, Judge Elliott D. Prescott. Upon losing the election himself, Prescott fired her. Moving forward, Judge Thompson became instrumental in advancing the well-being of Michigan\u2019s children. During her 12 years as judge she set a state record for adoptions of orphans and developed a solid record for rehabilitating so-called \u201cbad\u201d boys and girls. Inventor of the \u201ccornfield and kitchen\u201d sentence, she sent delinquents to pleasant family homes for a new start in life. Her record with children also garnered national attention in 1930 when President Herbert Hoover selected her as a delegate to the National Child Welfare Conference in Washington, D.C. Thompson continued her string of firsts by becoming the first woman member of the Muskegon Bar Association and the first woman chair and charter member of the Quadrangle Club \u2013 Business and Professional Women in Muskegon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1938 her list of accomplishments grew when she became the first Muskegon County woman ever elected to the Michigan House of Representatives. Holding office from 1938 until 1941, she served on the governor\u2019s Welfare Advisory Board, Social Security Board\u2019s Old Age and Survivor\u2019s Insurance Division, the Labor Department\u2019s Wage and House division, chaired the Women\u2019s Prison Commission of Michigan, and the Michigan Council of Social Work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1951 she continued her trail blazing at the national level as Michigan\u2019s first female Congressperson and by becoming the first woman appointed to the Congressional House Judiciary Committee. She also served on the Joint Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Ruth Thompson believed in the power of people. She showed this through personal example (during the Depression she took a $1,000 pay cut stipulating the funds go to aid underprivileged children) and by her belief that people could make a difference through the political process: \u201cThis is your country, your vote \u2014 make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Courtesy of The Muskegon Chronicle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2737,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2736","mwhof","type-mwhof","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRuth Thompson - Michigan Women Forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although women earned the right to vote in the United States in 1920, it was not until 1951, three decades later, that Michigan had its first female member of the U.S. Congress, Ruth Thompson, a Republican from Whitehall.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/miwf.org\/celebrating-women\/michigan-womens-hall-of-fame\/ruth-thompson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ruth Thompson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although women earned the right to vote in the United States in 1920, it was not until 1951, three decades later, that Michigan had its first female member of the U.S. Congress, Ruth Thompson, a Republican from Whitehall.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/miwf.org\/celebrating-women\/michigan-womens-hall-of-fame\/ruth-thompson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Michigan Women Forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MichiganWomenForward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/miwf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ruth-thompson.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/miwf.org\/celebrating-women\/michigan-womens-hall-of-fame\/ruth-thompson\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/miwf.org\/celebrating-women\/michigan-womens-hall-of-fame\/ruth-thompson\/\",\"name\":\"Ruth Thompson - 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