Legislator Details
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
never married
Number of Children: 0
Background
Education:
graduated from Muskegon Business College, Muskegon, MI, 1905
Biographical Sketch:
Daughter of Tom Thompson; of Scandinavian descent. Born in Whitehall, MI. Studied law by Blackstone Correspondence Course and reading law with local attorneys, Robert E. Bunker and A.J. Rogoski. Registrar of probate court of Muskegon Co., MI; judge of probate, Muskegon Co., 1925-1937. Social Security Board, Washington, DC, 1941-42; staff for U.S. Labor Dept., 1942; U.S. Adj. General’s Office, 1942-46; chair, Michigan state Prison Commission for Women. Died at 82 in a nursing home where she had been a patient for 5 years.
Was a member and past president of the Michigan Association of Probate Judges; member: state Bar Association; board of Michigan Society for Mental Hygiene; Muskegon County Board of Couzens Fund; and National Republican Program Committee.
Notable Facts:
Elected to the 82nd-84th Congresses 1951-1957.
First Michigan woman elected to US House of Representatives;
first woman to serve in the US House Judiciary Committee.
First woman probate judge for Muskegon Co.
Muskegon's first woman attorney when admitted to the bar in 1925.
Manual 1939, p. 629, states she was admitted to the bar in 1926.