Ruth Bryan OWEN, Congress, FL (1885-1954)
OWEN, Ruth Bryan, (later Mrs. Borge Rohde, daughter of William Jennings Bryan), a Representative from Florida; born in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., October 2, 1885; educated in public schools, Lincoln, Nebr.; attended Monticello Seminary, Godfrey, Ill., and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln; member of the executive committee of the American Womenâs War Relief Fund in London, England; war nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment in the Egypt-Palestine campaign, 1915-1918; lecturer, Lyceum and Chautauqua lecture circuit, Miami, Fla., 1918-1928; board of regents of the University of Miami, Miami, Fla., 1925-1928; author; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-first and to the succeeding Congress (March 4, 1929-March 3, 1933); unsuccessful candidate for renomination to the Seventy-third Congress in 1932; delegate to the Interparliamentary Union at London, 1930; appointed Minister to Denmark (April 13, 1933-August 30, 1936); special assistant, Department of State, United Nations Conference, San Francisco, Calif., 1945; alternate delegate, United Nations General Assembly, 1949; member of the Advisory Board of the Federal Reformatory for Women, 1938-1954; member of the board of trustees of the Starr Commonwealth for Boys, 1941-1954; died on July 26, 1954, in Copenhagen, Denmark; interment in Ordrup Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Bibliography
Vickers, Sarah Pauline. âThe Life of Ruth Bryan Owen: Floridaâs First Congresswoman and Americaâs First Woman Diplomat.â Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State University, 1994.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
