Preceded by William O. Burgin Name Eliza Pratt Succeeded by Charles B. Deane Role U.S. representative | Political party Democratic Party Party Democratic Party Alma mater Queens College Resigned January 3, 1947 | |
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Born March 5, 1902
Anson County, North Carolina ( 1902-03-05 ) Died May 13, 1981, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States Education Queens University of Charlotte | ||
Eliza Jane Pratt (March 5, 1902 – May 13, 1981) was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina, the first woman to represent her state in the U.S. Congress.
A native of Anson County, North Carolina, Pratt worked as a newspaper editor in Troy, North Carolina, before being hired as a secretary for Congressman Robert L. Doughton in 1924. She then served Doughton and his successors in North Carolina's 8th congressional district for the next twenty-two years: J. Walter Lambeth and William O. Burgin.
When Burgin died in office in 1946, Pratt was elected as a Democrat to fill the vacancy. She served from May 25, 1946, to January 3, 1947, and was not a candidate in the 1946 general election.
Pratt went on to a variety of federal government jobs and again became a secretary for a member of Congress, Alvin Paul Kitchin, from 1957 through 1962.
No woman would be elected again to Congress from North Carolina until Eva M. Clayton was elected in 1992.