Florence Gibbs (née Reville;April 4,1890 –August 19,1964) was a Democratic congresswoman. Elected in special election to replace her deceased husband,she became the first woman to represent Georgia in the United States House of Representatives,serving for three months from October 3,1940,to January 3,1941. [1] [2]
Florence Reville was born April 4,1890,in Thomson,McDuffie County,Georgia. [3] She was the oldest child of Sallie Printup Reville and Thomas Porter Reville. [3] She grew up there,attending public schools,and then graduated from Brenau College in Gainesville,Georgia. She married Willis Benjamin Gibbs,a Georgia attorney and politician,and together they had two children. [3]
In 1938,W. Benjamin Gibbs was elected as a Democrat to represent Georgia's Eighth congressional district in the 76th United States Congress. He took his seat on January 3,1939,and served until his death in 1940. Florence Gibbs was elected on October 3,1940,as a Democrat in the special election to fill the vacant seat left by her husband's death;she was sworn into office on October 3,1940. [3] She did not run in the general election to represent the district in the 77th United States Congress,and she left office January 3,1941.
After leaving Congress,Florence Gibbs retired from public life and resided in Jesup,Georgia,until her death there on August 19,1964. [3]
Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs was a politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as United States Ambassador to the Holy See. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana. She was also a permanent chairwoman of the 1976 Democratic National Convention,which met in New York City to nominate the Carter-Mondale ticket. She was the first woman to preside over a major party convention.
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Willis Benjamin Gibbs was a U.S. Representative from Georgia,husband of Florence Reville Gibbs.
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Widow's succession was a political practice prominent in some countries in the early part of the 20th century,by which a politician who died in office was directly succeeded by their widow,either through election or direct appointment to the seat. Many of the earliest women to hold political office in the modern era attained their positions through this practice. It also occurred when politicians stood down from a particular office.
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