Editing Edith Nourse Rogers

{{Short description|American politician (1881–1960)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|image        = Edith nourse rogers.jpg
|office       = Chair of the [[United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs|House Veterans' Affairs Committee]]
|term_start   = January 3, 1953
|term_end     = January 3, 1955
|predecessor  = [[John E. Rankin]]
|successor    = [[Olin E. Teague]]
|term_start1  = January 3, 1947
|term_end1    = January 3, 1949
|predecessor1 = ''Position established''
|successor1   = John E. Rankin
|state2       = [[Massachusetts]]
|district2    = {{ushr|MA|5|5th}}
|term_start2  = June 30, 1925
|term_end2    = September 10, 1960
|predecessor2 = [[John Jacob Rogers]]
|successor2   = [[F. Bradford Morse]]
|birth_name   = Edith Nourse
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1881|3|19}}
|birth_place  = [[Saco, Maine]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1960|9|10|1881|3|19}}}}
|death_place  = [[Boston]], Massachusetts, U.S.
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse       = {{marriage|[[John Jacob Rogers]]|1907|March 28, 1925|end=d.}}
|module       = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers on Declaring War on Japan.ogg|title=Rogers's voice|type=speech|description=Rogers speaks in support of [[United States declaration of war on Japan|declaring war on Japan]]<br/>Recorded December 8, 1941}}
}}

'''Edith Rogers''' (née '''Nourse'''; March 19, 1881 &ndash; September 10, 1960) was an American [[social welfare]] [[Volunteering|volunteer]] and [[politician]] who served as a Republican in the [[United States Congress]]. She was the first woman elected to Congress from [[Massachusetts]]. Until 2012, she was the longest serving Congresswoman and was the longest serving female Representative until 2018 (a record now held by [[Marcy Kaptur]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/03/18/594321235/ohio-democrat-marcy-kaptur-makes-history-as-longest-serving-woman-in-the-house|title=Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur Makes History As Longest-Serving Woman In The House|work=NPR.org|access-date=March 19, 2018}}</ref> In her 35 years in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] she was a powerful voice for [[veteran]]s and sponsored seminal legislation, including the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (commonly known as the [[G.I. Bill]]), which provided [[education]]al and financial benefits for veterans returning home from [[World War II]], the 1942 [[Act of Congress|bill]] that created the [[Women's Army Corps|Women's Army Auxiliary Corps]] (WAAC), and the 1943 bill that created the [[Women's Army Corps]] (WAC). She was also instrumental in bringing [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] appropriations to her [[Electoral district|constituency]], [[Massachusetts's 5th congressional district]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d02365994u&view=1up&seq=3|title=Women in Congress 1917–2006|last=Committee on House Administration of the U.S. House of Representatives|year=2006|via=Hathi Trust|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=9780160767531 |access-date=October 22, 2018}}</ref>

==Early life==
Edith Nourse was born on March 19, 1881, in [[Saco, Maine]], to Franklin T. Nourse, the manager of a [[textile]] [[Factory|mill]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Rep. Edith Rogers, 79, Dies; Served in House 35 Years|last=Casey|first=Phil|date=September 11, 1960|newspaper=The Washington Post|page=B12}}</ref> and Edith France Riversmith, who volunteered with the [[Christianity|Christian church]] and social causes.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/ROGERS,-Edith-Nourse-(R000392)/|title=Rogers, Edith Nourse|website=History, Art, & Archives: United States House of Representatives|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref> Both parents were from old [[New England]] families, and were able to have their daughter privately tutored until she was fourteen. Edith Nourse then attended and graduated from [[Rogers Hall School]], a private [[boarding school]] for girls in [[Lowell, Massachusetts]], and then Madame Julien's School, a [[finishing school]] at [[Neuilly-sur-Seine|Neuilly]] near Paris, France.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|title=Edith Nourse Rogers, 79, Dies; Served in Congress 35 Years|date=September 11, 1960|work=The New York Times|page=82}}</ref>

Like her mother, she volunteered with the church and other charities. In 1907, she married [[John Jacob Rogers]], newly graduated from [[Harvard Law School]], who passed the [[bar (law)|bar]] and began practicing in Lowell in the same year. In 1911, he started his career in [[politics]], becoming involved in the city government, and the next year he became the school commissioner. In 1912 he was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[Sixty-third United States Congress|63rd United States Congress]] as the Representative from the 5th District of Massachusetts, and began service in [[Washington, D.C.]] on March 13, 1913.

[[World War I]] soon broke out. In 1917, John Rogers, as a member of the [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs|House Foreign Affairs Committee]], traveled to the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]] to observe the conditions of the war firsthand. He remained a Congressman during his brief enlistment as a [[private (rank)|private]] in an [[artillery]] training [[battalion]], the 29th Training Battery, 10th Training Battalion, Field Artillery, Fourth Central Officers' Training School from September 2, 1918, until his [[honorable discharge]] on November 29, 1918.

During this period, Edith Rogers volunteered with the Young Men's Christian Association ([[YMCA]]) in London for a short time, then from 1917 to 1922 as a "Gray Lady" with the [[American Red Cross]] in France and with the [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center]] in Washington, D.C. This was the start of what became a lifelong commitment to veterans. She also witnessed the conditions faced by women employees and volunteers working with the [[United States armed forces]]; with the exception of a few [[nurse]]s, they were [[civilian]]s, and received no benefits including no housing, no food, no [[insurance]], no [[medicine|medical care]], no legal protection, no [[pension]]s, and no compensation for their families in cases of death. In contrast, the women in the [[British Army]] loaned to the [[American Expeditionary Force]] (AEF) in France were military, with the attendant benefits and responsibilities.

At the end of the war, her husband joined the [[American Legion]] veteran's organization, and she joined the auxiliary. Her experience with veteran's issues led [[President of the United States|President]] [[Warren G. Harding]] to appoint her as the inspector of new veterans' hospitals from 1922 to 1923, for $1 [[United States dollar|USD]] a year. She reported on conditions and her appointment was renewed by both the [[Calvin Coolidge|Coolidge]] and [[Herbert Hoover|Hoover]] administrations. Her first experience in politics was serving as an elector in the [[U.S. Electoral College]] during Calvin Coolidge's [[U.S. presidential election, 1924|1924 presidential campaign]].

==Congresswoman==
[[File:EdithRogersBaseball.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Margaret Speaks, left, daughter of Rep. [[John C. Speaks]] of Ohio, photographed while selling peanuts to Edith N. Rogers and Senator [[Frederick H. Gillett]] at the game between the Democratic and Republican teams of the House of Representatives.]]
This experience served her well when her husband died in Washington, D.C, on March 28, 1925, a little more than three weeks after starting his seventh term. Spurred by pressure from the Republican Party and the [[American Legion]] who approved of her stance on veteran's issues and wanted the sympathy vote, she was urged to run for her late husband's seat. She ran in a [[special election]] as the Republican candidate for Representative to the [[Sixty-ninth United States Congress|69th United States Congress]] from the 5th District of Massachusetts,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=r000392|title=ROGERS, Edith Nourse - Biographical Information|website=bioguide.congress.gov|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref> and beat [[Eugene Foss]], the former [[Governor of Massachusetts]], with a landslide 72 percent of the vote. Like [[Mae Ella Nolan]] and [[Florence Prag Kahn]] before her, she won her husband's seat.

Her term started on June 30, 1925, making her the sixth woman elected to Congress, after [[Jeannette Rankin]], [[Alice Mary Robertson]], [[Winnifred Sprague Mason Huck]], [[Mae Nolan]], [[Florence Prag Kahn|Florence Kahn]], and [[Mary Teresa Norton]]. Like all but Norton, Rogers was a Republican, and like them all she was a member of the House of Representatives; [[Hattie Wyatt Caraway]] would become the first woman elected to the [[United States Senate|Senate]] in 1932. Rogers was also the first woman elected to Congress from New England, and the second from an [[Eastern United States|Eastern state]] after Norton, who was from [[New Jersey]].

After her election to the 69th Congress, Rogers was reelected to the [[Seventieth United States Congress|70th]], [[Seventy-first United States Congress|71st]], [[Seventy-second United States Congress|72nd]], [[Seventy-third United States Congress|73rd]], [[Seventy-fourth United States Congress|74th]], [[Seventy-fifth United States Congress|75th]], [[Seventy-sixth United States Congress|76th]], [[Seventy-seventh United States Congress|77th]], [[Seventy-eighth United States Congress|78th]], [[Seventy-ninth United States Congress|79th]], [[Eightieth United States Congress|80th]], [[Eighty-first United States Congress|81st]], [[Eighty-second United States Congress|82nd]], [[Eighty-third United States Congress|83rd]], [[Eighty-fourth United States Congress|84th]], [[Eighty-fifth United States Congress|85th]], and [[Eighty-sixth United States Congress|86th Congress]]es.<ref name=":1" /> She continued to win with strong majorities, serving a total of 35 years and 18 consecutive terms, until her death on September 10, 1960. She was considered a formidable candidate for U.S. Senate in 1958 against the much younger [[John F. Kennedy]], but decided not to run. This was the longest tenure of any woman elected to the United States Congress, until surpassed by [[Barbara Mikulski]] in 2012. Like her husband, she served on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and also on the [[U.S. House Civil Service Committee|Civil Service Committee]] and the [[U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs|Committee on Veterans' Affairs]]. She [[chairperson|chair]]ed the Committee on Veterans' Affairs from 1947 to 1948 and again from 1953 to 1954, during the 80th and 83rd Congresses. She was also the first woman to preside as [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker ''pro tempore'' over the House of Representatives]].

On the afternoon of December 13, 1932, Marlin Kemmerer perched on the gallery railing of the U.S. House of Representatives, waved a pistol, and demanded the right to speak. As other representatives fled in panic, Reps. Rogers and [[Melvin Maas]] (R-MN) approached the would-be gunman. Rogers had counseled shell-shocked veterans at Walter Reed Hospital; she looked up at Kemmerer and told the troubled young man, "You won't do anything." Maas, a Marine in [[World War I]], stood next to Rogers and asked Kemmerer to throw down his pistol. When he did so, he was apprehended by Congressman (R – NY, and future mayor of New York City) [[Fiorello H. La Guardia]] and an off-duty D.C. police officer. Kemmerer was released a month later at the request of House members.<ref>Dustin Waters, "The Depression-era gunman who tried to hold Congress hostage: 'I demand the right to the floor for 20 minutes.'" ''The Washington Post'', 1/19/20, retrieved 1/19/20. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/01/19/gunman-congress-marlin-kemmerer/#comments-wrapper]</ref>

==Legislator==
[[File:1939 Foreign Affairs Committee meeting.jpg|thumb|250px|Claude Bowers, right, is pictured with Rep. Sol Bloom. chairman of the Committee, and Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers, Republican of Massachusetts]]
Rogers was regarded as capable by her male peers and became a model for younger Congresswomen. Her trademark was an [[orchid]] or a [[gardenia]] on her shoulder. She was also an active legislator and sponsored more than 1,200 bills, over half on veteran or military issues. She voted for a permanent nurse corps in the [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Department of Veteran's Affairs]], and benefits for disabled veterans and veterans of the [[Korean War]].

In 1937 she sponsored a bill to fund the maintenance of the neglected [[Congressional Cemetery]], even though her husband was placed at rest in their hometown. She opposed [[child labor]], and fought for "[[equal pay for equal work]]" and a 48-hour workweek for women, though she believed a woman's first priority was home and family. She supported local economic autonomy; on April 19, 1934, she read a [[petition]] against the expanded business regulations of the [[New Deal]], and all 1,200 [[signature]]s, into the ''[[Congressional Record]]''. Rogers voted in favor of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|Civil Rights Acts of 1957]] and [[Civil Rights Act of 1960|1960]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42|title=HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h102|title=HR 8601. PASSAGE.}}</ref>

Rogers was an advocate for the textile and [[leather]] industries in Massachusetts. She acquired funding for [[flood control]] measures in the [[Merrimack River]] basin, helped Camp Devens become [[Fort Devens, Massachusetts]] in 1931, and was responsible for many other jobs and grants in the state.

In 1935 Rogers twice introduced resolutions to authorize funding for traffic safety studies, eventually resulting in $75,000 for [[Bureau of Public Roads]] to study traffic safety conditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=Sarah Jo|title=The Transportation Research Board, 1920–2020: Everyone Interested Is Invited |date=2020 |publisher=The National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-49371-0 |publication-date=2020 |pages=63}}</ref>

A confidential 1943 analysis of the [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs|House Foreign Affairs Committee]] by [[Isaiah Berlin]] for the British [[Foreign Office]] described Rogers as<ref name="hachey1973">{{cite journal | url=http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/published_works/singles/bib139a/bib139a.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021185357/http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/published_works/singles/bib139a/bib139a.pdf | archive-date=October 21, 2013 | title=American Profiles on Capitol Hill: A Confidential Study for the British Foreign Office in 1943 | author=Hachey, Thomas E. | journal=Wisconsin Magazine of History |date=Winter 1973–1974 | volume=57 | issue=2 | pages=141–153 | jstor=4634869}}</ref>

{{blockquote|an Isolationist up to and including the [[Lend-Lease]], after which, however, she swung in behind the President on all major foreign policy measures. Though she is likely to continue her support, she will only do so after she has convinced herself that America's own best interests are thoroughly protected and that the Administration is not trying to "put something across." She is regarded in Congress as a capable, hard-working and intelligent woman. A pleasant and kindly old battle-axe— but a battle-axe. An Episcopalian; age 62. Probably nationalist rather than internationalist in outlook.}}

It is noted in the private papers of ETO Logistics Chief Lt. Gen. [[John C. H. Lee]] that she was received at Cherbourg, France on 4 October 1944.  The following day she decorated Col. [[Benjamin B. Talley]], commander of operations at [[Omaha Beach]] on and after D-Day with the [[Legion of Merit]] for his work in operating the beach-port at Omaha.

==German refugees==
Rogers was one of the first members of Congress to speak out against [[Adolf Hitler]]'s treatment of [[Jew]]s. The expulsion of Jews from [[Germany]] without proper papers caused a refugee crisis in 1938, and after the [[Evian Conference]] failed to lift immigration quotas in the 38 participating nations, Edith Rogers co-sponsored the [[Wagner-Rogers Bill]] with [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Robert F. Wagner]]. Introduced to the Senate on February 9, 1939, and to the House on February 14, it would have allowed 20,000 German [[Jewish refugees]] under the age of 14 to settle in the United States.

The bill was supported by religious and [[labor movement|labor group]]s, and the [[news media]], but was strongly opposed by [[patriotism|patriotic]] groups who believed "charity begins at home". After rancorous [[U.S. House election, 1938|1938 elections in the House]] and [[U.S. Senate election, 1938|Senate]], Congress had turned [[Conservatism|conservative]], and despite provisions requiring the children to be supported by private individuals and agencies, not public funds, organizations like the American Legion, the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]], and the [[American Coalition of Patriotic Societies]] lined up against it. With rising [[Nativism (politics)|nativism]] and [[antisemitism]], [[recession|economic trouble]]s, and Congress asserting its independence, President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] was unable to support the bill, and it failed.

==WAAC==
[[File:Homefeature-rogers.jpg|thumb|400px|Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts presides over the House Chamber in this image from 1926 of the Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives]]
Women had served in the United States military before. In 1901, a female [[Army Medical Department (United States)#Army Nurse Corps|Nurse Corps]] was established in the [[Army Medical Department (United States)|Army Medical Department]] and in 1907 a [[U. S. Navy Nurse Corps|Navy Nurse Corps]] was established. However, despite their [[uniform]]s the nurses were civilian employees with few benefits. They slowly gained additional privileges, including "relative [[military rank|rank]]s" and insignia in 1920, a retirement pension in 1926, and a disability pension if injured in the line of duty in 1926. Rogers voted to support the pensions.

The first American women enlisted into the regular armed forces were 13,000 women admitted into active duty in the [[United States Navy|Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]]s during World War I, and a much smaller number admitted into the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]]. These "[[Yeoman (F)|Yeomanettes]]" and "women Marines" primarily served in [[clerk (position)|clerical]] positions. They received the same benefits and responsibilities as men, including identical pay, and were treated as veterans after the war. These women were quickly demobilized when hostilities ceased, and aside from the Nurse Corps, the soldiery became once again exclusively male. In contrast, the army clerks and "Hello Girls" who [[Switchboard operator|worked the telephones]] during World War I were civilian contractors with no benefits.

Rogers' volunteer work in World War I exposed her to the status of the women with the [[United States Army]], and the much more egalitarian role of women in the [[British Army]]. With this inspiration and model, Edith Rogers introduced a bill to the 76th Congress in early 1941 to establish a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) during World War II. The bill was intended to free men for combat duty by creating a cadre of 25,000 noncombatant clerical workers. The bill languished in the face of strong opposition to women in the army, and indifference in the face of higher priorities like the [[lend-lease]] bill, [[price control]]s, and ramping up war production.

After the December 7, 1941 [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], manpower shortages threatened as productivity increased. Rogers approached the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Army Chief of Staff]] [[George Marshall]], and with his strong support she reintroduced the bill to the 77th Congress with a new upper limit of 150,000 women, and an amendment giving the women full military status. The amendment was resoundingly rejected but the unamended bill passed, and on May 14, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's signature turned "An Act to Establish the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps" into [[Act of Congress|Public Law]] 77-554.

While "Auxiliaries", and thus not a part of the regular army, the WAACs were given food, clothing, housing, medical care, training, and pay. They did not receive death benefits, medical care as veterans, retirement or disability pensions, or overseas pay. They were given auxiliary ranks which granted no command authority over men, and also earned less than men with comparable regular army ranks, until November 1, 1942, when legislation equalized their remuneration. Since they were not regular army they were not governed by army regulations, and if captured, were not protected by international conventions regarding the treatment of [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] (POWs).

On July 30, 1942, Public Law 77-554 created the [[WAVES]] (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in the Navy. The law passed with no significant opposition, despite granting the WAVES full status as military reserves, under the same Naval regulations that applied to men. The WAVES were granted equal pay and benefits, but no retirement or disability pensions and were restricted to noncombat duties in the [[continental United States]]. The similarly empowered [[SPARS]] (from the [[motto]] ''Semper Paratus''/"Always Ready") in the Coast Guard, and the [[Marine Corps Women's Reserve]] soon followed. The September 27, 1944, Public Law 78-441 allowed WAVES to also serve in [[Alaska]] and [[Hawaii]].

The initial goal of 25,000 WAACs by June 30, 1943, was passed in November 1942. The goal was reset at 150,000, the maximum allowed by law, but competition from sister units like the WAVES and the private war industry, the retention of high educational and moral standards, underuse of skilled WAACs, and a spate of vicious gossip and bad publicity in 1943 prevented the goal from ever being reached.
[[File:Edith Nourse Rogers.jpg|thumb|Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers addresses the graduates of the first WAAC officer candidate class at Fort Des Moines, August 29, 1942.]]
The rumors of immoral conduct were widely published by the [[Mass media|press]] without verification, and harmed morale. Investigations by the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] and Edith Rogers uncovered nothing; and the incidence of [[disorderly conduct|disorderly]] and [[crime|criminal]] conduct among the WAACs was a tiny fraction of that among the male military population, [[venereal disease]] was almost non-existent, and the [[pregnancy]] rate was far below civilian women. Despite this, the June 30, 1943, enlistment reached 60,000.

==Women's Army Corps==
{{Main|Women's Army Corps}}

[[File:WACsOperateTeletype.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Women's Army Corps|WAC]]s assigned to the Eighth Air Force in England operate [[teleprinter|teletype machine]]s.]]

Edith Rogers introduced a bill in October 1942 to make the WAACs a formal part of the [[United States Army Reserve]]. Fearing it would hinder other war legislation, [[George Marshall]] declined to support it and it failed. He changed his mind in 1943, and asked Congress to give the WAAC full military status. Experience showed that the two separate systems were too difficult to manage. Rogers and [[Oveta Culp Hobby]], the first Director of the WAACs, drafted a new bill which was debated in the House for six months before passing. On July 1, 1943, Roosevelt signed "An Act to Establish the Women's Army Corps in the Army of the United States", which became Public Law 78-110. The "auxiliary" portion of the name was officially dropped, and on July 5, 1943, Hobby was commissioned as a full [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]], the highest rank allowed in the new Women's Army Corps.

The WACs received the same pay, allowances, and benefits as regular army units, though time spent as a WAC did not count toward time served and the allowance for dependents was heavily restricted. The WACs were now [[military discipline|discipline]]d, promoted, and given the same legal protections as regular Army units, and the 150,000 ceiling was lifted. While the legislators made it very clear they expected the WACs to be noncombatants, the bill contained no specific restrictions. Existing Army regulations still prohibited them from combat training with weapons, tactical exercises, duty assignments requiring weapons, supervising men, and jobs requiring great physical strength, unless waived by the [[United States Secretary of War]]; but of the 628 Army specialties, women now qualified for 406. Additional Army regulations were adopted to cover pregnancy, [[marriage]], and [[maternity]] care.

As part of the regular Army, WACs could not be permanently assigned as [[cook (profession)|cook]]s, [[waitress]]es, [[janitor]]s, or to any other civilian jobs. While most became clerks, [[secretary|secretaries]], and [[driving|driver]]s, they also became [[mechanic]]s, [[weather]] observers, [[radio]] operators, medical technicians, [[military espionage|intelligence]] analysts, [[chaplain]]s, [[postal worker]]s, and [[heavy equipment]] operators. The restriction against combat training and carrying weapons was waived in several cases, allowing women to serve as [[pay officer]]s, [[military police]], in code rooms, or as drivers in some overseas areas. On January 10, 1943, a 200-WAC unit was even trained as an [[antiaircraft gun]] crew, though they were not allowed to fire the 90&nbsp;mm weapon. Several were also assigned to the [[Manhattan Project]].

WACs also served overseas, and close to the front lines. During the invasion of [[Italy]] by the [[U.S. Fifth Army]] under [[Lieutenant General]] [[Mark W. Clark]], a 60-woman [[platoon]] served in the advance headquarters, sometimes only a few miles from the front lines; and in the [[South Pacific Area|south Pacific]] WACs moved into [[Manila]], Philippines only three days after occupation. By [[Victory over Japan Day|V-J Day]], one fifth had served overseas.

On [[Victory in Europe Day|V-E Day]], May 8, 1945, WACs reached their peak of 99,388 women in active duty, and a total of more than 140,000 WACs served during World War II. The majority served in the [[Army Service Forces]], but large numbers also served as "Air WACs" in the [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Force]], largely because of the enthusiastic and early support of General [[Henry H. Arnold]], and in the Army Medical Corps. Only 2,000 served in the combat-heavy [[Army Ground Force]].

Despite the noncombatant status of her directorate, Oveta Hobby was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Distinguished Service Medal]], the third-highest U.S. Army decoration and the highest one which can be awarded for non-combat service. The WACs were awarded a total of 62 [[Legion of Merit|Legions of Merit]], 565 [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]]s, 3 [[Air Medal]]s, and 16 [[Purple Heart]]s.

The initial bill called for the WACs to be discontinued 6 months after the President declared the war was at an end, but despite the resistance in the House and the smear campaign, the WACs performed capably and well. According to [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], "During the time I have had WACs under my command they have met every test and task assigned to them.... Their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit, and determination are immeasurable." [[Douglas MacArthur]] called them "my best soldiers". With the rush to send as many men home as quickly as possible after the cessation of hostilities, WACs were even more in demand.

Supported by Eisenhower, the "Act to Establish a Permanent Nurse Corps of the Army and Navy and to Establish a Women's Medical Specialists Corps in the Army", or the [[Army-Navy Nurses Act of 1947]], passed and became Public Law 8036, granting regular, permanent status to female nurses. Then in early 1946, Chief of Staff Eisenhower ordered legislation drafted to make the WACs a permanent part of the armed forces. The bill was unanimously approved by the Senate but the House Armed Forces Committee amended the bill to restrict women to reserve status, with only Representative [[Margaret Chase Smith]] dissenting.

After vehement objection by Eisenhower, who wrote "the women of America must share the responsibility for the security of their country in a future emergency as the women of England did in World War II"; the personal testimony of [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[James Forrestal]]; and support from every major military commander including the [[Chief of Naval Operations]] [[Fleet admiral (United States)|Fleet Admiral]] [[Chester W. Nimitz]], and MacArthur, the Commander of [[United States Army Forces in the Far East]], who wrote, "we cannot ask these women to remain on duty, nor can we ask qualified personnel to volunteer, if we cannot offer them permanent status"; supporting articles in ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', and the support of Senator and future President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and Representative Edith Rogers, the amended bill passed in the House but was rejected in the Senate. A compromise restored the original wording but limited the total number of women allowed to serve for the first few years, which then passed regular army, which was submitted to Congress in 1947 in the midst of a massive reorganization of the unanimously in the Senate, and 206 to 133 in the House. On June 12, 1948, President [[Harry Truman]] signed the "Women's Armed Services Integration Act", making it Public Law 80-625.

On December 3, 1948, the Director of the WACs, Colonel [[Mary A. Hallaren]], became the first commissioned female officer in the U.S. Army. The WACs still were not equal. They were limited in numbers, had no command authority over men, were restricted from combat training and duties, had additional restrictions on claiming dependents, and aside from their director, no woman could be promoted above the rank of lieutenant colonel. WACs served in the Korean and [[Vietnam War]]s.

On November 8, 1967, Congress lifted the restriction on promotions, allowing the first WAC generals, and then, on October 29, 1978, the Women's Army Corps was disestablished and women were integrated into the rest of the Army.

==G.I. Bill==
{{main|G.I. Bill}}

In 1944, Edith Rogers helped draft, and then co-sponsored the G. I. Bill, with Representative [[John E. Rankin]], and Senators [[Ernest McFarland]], and [[Bennett Champ Clark]]. The bill provided for education and vocational training, low-interest [[loan]]s for homes, [[farm]]s, and [[business]]es, and limited [[unemployment benefit]]s for returning servicemen. On June 22, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed "The Servicemen's Readjustment Act", which became Public Law 78-346 and handed her the first pen. As a result of the bill, roughly half of the returning veterans went on to higher education.

In August 2019, as part of the [[Forever GI Bill]], the Edith Nourse Rogers Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) Scholarship will be available to veterans pursuing STEM careers.  This scholarship will allow recipients to receive up to nine additional months Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title38-section3320&num=0&edition=prelim#sourcecredit|title=[USC02] 38 USC 3320: Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship|website=uscode.house.gov|access-date=April 10, 2019}}</ref>

==After World War II==
During the [[Cold War]] Rogers supported the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]] and Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] during the "[[Second Red Scare|Red Scare]]". Although she supported the [[United Nations]], in 1953 she said that UN headquarters should be expelled from the U.S. if [[communist]] [[China]] were admitted.<ref name=":0" /> In 1954, she opposed sending U.S. soldiers to [[Vietnam]].

==Death and legacy==
Edith Rogers died on September 10, 1960, at Philips House, [[Massachusetts General Hospital]], in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]<ref name=":2" /> in the midst of her 19th Congressional campaign. She was interred with her husband in [[Lowell Cemetery (Lowell, Massachusetts)|Lowell Cemetery]], in their hometown of Lowell.

She received many honors during her life, including the Distinguished Service Medal of the American Legion in 1950. In honor of her work with veterans, the [[Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visn1.med.va.gov/bedford/ |title=503 Service Unavailable |access-date=February 19, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050526084745/http%3A//www.visn1.med.va.gov/bedford/ |archive-date=May 26, 2005 }}</ref> in [[Bedford, Massachusetts]] bears her name.

The Women's Army Corps Museum (now the [[United States Army Women's Museum]]), established on May 14, 1955, in [[Fort McClellan, Alabama]], was renamed the Edith Nourse Rogers Museum on August 18, 1961, but returned to its original name on May 14, 1977.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://awm.lee.army.mil/about/history/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930070155/http://www.awm.lee.army.mil/about/history/|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 30, 2018|title=History - Army Women's Museum|website=awm.lee.army.mil|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref>

The Edith Nourse Rogers Stem Academy in Lowell, Massachusetts is named after Edith Rogers. Among its famous graduates is former Congressman, and current chancellor of The [[University of Massachusetts Lowell]], [[Marty Meehan]], who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 5, 1993, to July 1, 2007. Edith Nourse Rogers Stem Academy serves approximately 1200 students in grades K through 8.

In 1998, Rogers was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>[https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/edith-nourse-rogers/ National Women's Hall of Fame, Edith Nourse Rogers].</ref>

Governor Deval Patrick signed a Proclamation declaring June 30, 2012, as "Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers Day."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://richardhowe.com/2012/07/01/edith-nourse-rogers-day-ceremony/|title=Edith Nourse Rogers Day ceremony|last1=July 3|first1=John Quealey says|last2=Am|first2=2012 at 6:53|date=July 2, 2012|website=RichardHowe.com|language=en-US|access-date=October 22, 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)]]
*[[Women in the United States House of Representatives]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* Bellafaire, Judith A. "The Women's Army Corps: A commemoration of World War II service." [[United States Army Center of Military History]] publication 72-15. ([http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/wac/wac.htm brochure online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304014953/https://history.army.mil/brochures/WAC/WAC.HTM |date=March 4, 2021 }})
* Brown, Dorothy M. (1999). "Edith Nourse Rogers: biographical sketch," eds John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. ''American National Biography,'' volume 18. ([http://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/exhibits/wac/rogers.html paper online])
* Leventhal, Robert S. (2002). [http://rsleve.people.wm.edu/america.html "'Believe the unbelievable': The American response to the Nazi genocide of the Jews, 1933–1945"]. Retrieved February 16, 2005.
* Morden, Bettie J. (1990). ''The Women's Army Corp, 1945–1978.'' [[United States Army Center of Military History]] publication 30-14. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20100729213804/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wac/index.htm book online])
* Synnott, Marcia G. [http://www.devenshistoricalmuseum.org/edith_nourse_rogers.html "Edith Nourse Rogers."] The Devens Historical Museum. Retrieved February 15, 2005.

==External links==
{{Commons category}} <!-- for current and future use if material is uploaded -->
*{{CongBio|R000392}} Retrieved on 2008-02-17
*[http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00294 ''Rogers, Edith Nourse, 1881-1960. Papers, 1854-1961: A Finding Aid''. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.]
*{{Find a Grave|7500867}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Jacob Rogers|John Rogers]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Massachusetts|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Massachusetts's 5th congressional district]]|years=1925–1960}}
{{s-aft|after=[[F. Bradford Morse|Bradford Morse]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[John E. Rankin|John Rankin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs|House Veterans' Affairs Committee]]|years=1947–1949}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John E. Rankin|John Rankin]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs|House Veterans' Affairs Committee]]|years=1953–1955}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Olin E. Teague|Olin Teague]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{House VA Chairmen}}
{{USRepMA}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{PLH Recipients}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Edith Nourse}}
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:American social workers]]
[[Category:American women civilians in World War I]]
[[Category:American women civilians in World War II]]
[[Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Maine]]
[[Category:People from Saco, Maine]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Women in Massachusetts politics]]
[[Category:American expatriates in France]]
[[Category:Politicians from Lowell, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Burials at Lowell Cemetery (Lowell, Massachusetts)]]