Frances P. Bolton
|
|
Frances Payne Bolton (March 29, 1885 - March 9, 1977) was a Republican politician from Ohio. She served in the United States House of Representatives.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Bolton was the granddaughter of Henry B. Payne. Active in public health, nursing education and other social service, education, and philanthropic work, she succeeded her husband, Chester C. Bolton, in office a few months after his death in 1939. She represented the 22nd District, mostly consisting of Cleveland's eastern suburbs. Bolton served an additional fourteen terms, serving alongside her son, Oliver P. Bolton for three of those terms. In 1955, she became the first American woman member of Congress to head an international delegation, using her own resources to fund them. One of her most lasting achievements was sponsoring legislation to purchase property across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. This prevented commercialization of the area and preserved its appearance as it was when Washington lived there.
After rising to become ranking minority member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Bolton was defeated in a bid for a sixteenth term in 1968 by Charles Vanik. Bolton retired to her family home, Franchester, named for herself and late husband, in Lyndhurst, Ohio. She was a devotee of yoga.
See also: