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ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, Volume 25 (Summer 1966)
A Louisiana Medicine Show: The Kingfish Elects An Arkansas Senator
By STUART TOWNS
Fayetteville
Arkansas claims the distinction of having elected the first woman to serve a full six-year term as United States Senator. The recipient of this honor, Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway, was chosen for the post in the general election of November 1932, and was sworn in on March 4, 1933. A native Tennessean, Hattie had married Thaddeus H. Caraway in 1902 after her graduation from Dickson Normal College. Her husband was later elected to the United States Senate, and was serving in this office when he died suddenly after an operation in Little Rock on November 6, 1931. (1) When the Senator died, Governor Harvey Parnell appointed Mrs. Caraway to serve until a special election could be held. On January 12, 1932, she was elected to complete the remainder of Thaddeus' term which was to end on March 3, 1933. During the summer of 1932, she campaigned for re-election to a full six-year term and, with the substantial help of Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana, won the Democratic primary in August. She later won the general election in November. (2) This paper will describe how Hattie and "the Kingfish" conducted their August campaign.
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1. The National Encyclopedia of American Biography, Current Vol. D (New York, 1934), 148-149.
2. Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1961 (Washington, 1961), 660.