WHEREAS, born in Skowhegan on December 14, 1897, Margaret Chase Smith proudly served Maine and the nation as a distinguished leader until her death on May 29, 1995; and

WHEREAS, first elected to the House of Representatives in 1940, Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman in the history of our country to be elected to the United States Senate in her own right in 1948, an election that also marked the first time a woman was elected to both houses of Congress; and

WHEREAS, on June 1, 1950, Smith became the first member of the Senate to denounce anti-communist tactics, delivering her “Declaration of Conscience” speech, one of the twentieth century’s most bold and important political speeches against the extreme actions of McCarthyism; and

WHEREAS, in 1964, Smith became the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency of the United States at a major party’s political convention; and

WHEREAS, Smith’s legacy to the State of Maine as a result of her over thirty years of service in the United States Congress lives on at the Margaret Chase Smith Library, which opened in 1982 in Skowhegan, and which she presided over for more than 10 years; and

WHEREAS, in accordance with 1 M.R.S §129, the State of Maine designates December 14th of each year as Margaret Chase Smith Day to honor this most outstanding citizen;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the great State of Maine, do hereby proclaim December 14th, 2023 as

Margaret Chase Smith Day

throughout the State of Maine, and I urge all citizens to observe the day with appropriate ceremony and activity.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twenty ninth day of November Two Thousand Twenty-Three