Margaret Chase Smith
Library of Congress
When Margaret Chase married local businessman Clyde Smith in 1930, the 32-year-old’s whole world was centered in the town where she was born and raised: Skowhegan. Nowhere in her imagination was the future that awaited her: the first woman elected to both houses of Congress; the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the presidency; recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom; and national renown for her “Declaration of Conscience” speech denouncing the smear tactics associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist campaign.
The daughter of the town barber, Margaret Chase Smith had worked as a telephone operator, a teacher, and an office manager after graduating from high school and participated in and even cofounded local women’s and business organizations. After marrying Clyde Smith, she became active in the Maine Republican Party, and following his election to Congress she managed his Washington office. When he died in office in 1940, she ran in his place, and won. Over more than 30 years in Congress, she gained a reputation for being plainspoken, independent, and principled.
Following her congressional career, she returned to Skowhegan, where she oversaw the addition to her home of a research library and archive to make her documents and artifacts available to researchers, students, and the general public. Today, both the library and her home, now a museum, are open to the public.
Margaret Chase Smith died in 1995 at the age of 97, but her legacy is still very much present in Maine. Within the state, her name is frequently evoked in political circles, and numerous scholarships, policy programs, civic institutions, and infrastructure like bridges and a state ferry bear her name. She is even remembered in Washington, where, in 2022, she became one of the first two women senators honored with a room in the U.S. Capitol.
