Helen Gahagan Douglas

Helen Gahagan Douglas was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California her election made California one of the first two states to elect female members to the House from both parties.

Gahagan was born in Boonton, New Jersey, of ScotchIrish descent. She was the daughter of Lillian Rose and Walter H. Gahagan, an engineer who owned a construction business in Brooklyn and a shipyard in Arverne, Queens her mother had been a schoolteacher. She was reared Episcopalian.

Source: Wikipedia