Helen Ruth Henderson

Helen Ruth Henderson (November 9, 1898 – February 20, 1982) was a Virginia schoolteacher and politician. The daughter of Helen Timmons Henderson, she was elected to her mother's old seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, entering in 1928[1] and serving one term.[2] This made the two the first mother-daughter pair to serve in the Virginia General Assembly and, indeed, in any state legislature; they were followed soon after by Nellie Nugent Somerville and Lucy Somerville Howorth of Mississippi.[3][4]

Helen Ruth Henderson
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Russell and Buchanan
In office
January 11, 1928 – January 8, 1930
Preceded byIsaac C. Boyd
Succeeded byFrench M. Clevinger
Personal details
Born
Helen Ruth Henderson

(1898-11-09)November 9, 1898
Jefferson City, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedFebruary 20, 1982(1982-02-20) (aged 83)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materVirginia Intermont College
Westhampton College
Columbia University

Biography

Henderson was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee,[2] and moved with her family to Virginia in 1907; when her parents moved to Buchanan County, she and her brother came along as well, though locals advised against it.[5] She was educated at Virginia Intermont College and Westhampton College, and later gained a PhD from Columbia University; there her dissertation was on the subject of educational challenges facing Buchanan County.[1] It was published in 1937 as A curriculum study of a mountain district.[6] She began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse, and would go on to head the mission school founded by her mother.[1]

Henderson served as a Democrat[7] in the Virginia House of Delegates for a single two-year term, leaving in 1930. She was one of four women serving in the legislature during her tenure.[8] The other three were Sallie C. Booker, Nancy Melvina Caldwell, and Sarah Lee Fain;[7] Fain had previously served alongside her mother.[9] Though some sources[2] claim that she was the second woman elected to the General Assembly, she was in fact the fifth.[7] Upon leaving office she joined the Virginia Department of Education. There she spent thirteen years, rising from assistant supervisor to supervisor of elementary education, in which role she spearheaded the establishment of nurseries in public schools to support women working in war plants during World War II. She later became executive secretary of the International Division of the Girl Scouts of the USA.[2] She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was appointed by the governor of Virginia to work with the National Advisory Council on Illiteracy.

Henderson died in Knoxville, Tennessee.[2]

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References
  1. "Henderson, Helen Timmons (1877–1925)". encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. "The Free Lance-Star – Google News Archive Search". google.com. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  3. "Firsts in the History of Virginia's Women" (PDF). Virginia Capital Connections Quarterly Magazine. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  4. Doris Weatherford (20 January 2012). Women in American Politics: History and Milestones. CQ Press. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-1-60871-007-2.
  5. "Buchanan Mission School – Helen Timmons Henderson". ancestry.com. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  6. "A curriculum study in a mountain district". worldcat.org. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  7. "Women in the General Assembly" (PDF). Virginia Capital Connections Quarterly Magazine. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  8. "Working Out Her Destiny – Notable Virginia Women – Henderson". virginia.gov. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  9. "Fain, Sarah Lee (1888–1962)". encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 7 September 2015.


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