Word - Before her time

Jeannette Pickering Rankin, who died in 1973, was the first woman elected to Congress - in 1916, before women had the right to vote - and became one of America’s most consistent anti-war voices. Rankin, who settled in Watkinsville, will be honored March 10 as one of the Georgia Women of Achievement. Below are some of her anti-war declarations.

“I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war. I vote no.”- FROM RANKIN’S 1917 CONGRESSIONAL SPEECH AGAINST ENTRY INTO WWI

“As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.”- FROM RANKIN’S 1941 CONGRESSIONAL SPEECH AGAINST ENTRY INTO WWII. SHE WAS THE SOLE DISSENTER.

“Killing more people won’t help matters.”- RANKIN, IN 1941, ON PEARL HARBOR

“It is unconscionable that 10,000 boys have died in Vietnam. ... If 10,000 American women had mind enough, they could end the war ... even if it meant going to jail.”- RANKIN, IN 1967, ON VIETNAM