The State’s New
Congresswoman
She* likes to fisli. she enjoys garden*
ing' ain«l she's also a fine eook. In
addition, she's a lady of most pleas¬
ing personality and eliarni.
By >1 \ IIY MFIU.FY
ALTHOUGH Miss Jane Pratt is
the first woman represent-
B \ative in Congress from North
Carolina, she is not the first mem¬
ber of her family to serve in our
national legislative halls. As a
matter of fact, she’s the third. The
other two were Colonel Risden
Tyler Bennett and L. D. Robinson,
of Wadesboro.
Col. Bennett was a distinguished
Civil War officer, lawyer, superior
court judge and a member of the
48th and 49th sessions of Congress,
to which he was elected in 1882
and 1886. Mr. Robinson served in
the 65th and 66th sessions and
was elected in 1916 and 1920.
Miss Pratt was named to fill
out the unexpired term of Con¬
gressman Burgin by the Eighth
Congressional District Executive
Committee. This was not done as
a courtesy or favor but because
of her fine record as an efficient
secretary who had served four
congressmen from that district
during the last 25 years — Hammer.
James. Lambeth and Burgin.
Born in Morven
She was born 44 years ago in
Morven, a small Anson County
town ten miles south of Wades¬
boro; the daughter of Lena Little
Pratt and James L. Pratt, merchant
and landowner. She lived in Mor¬
ven until about ten years old when
her family moved to Racford.
There she had what might be
termed her last “consistent home.
Since her father’s death and at
the time when the family left Rae-
ford, she has been packing and
unpacking suitcases between Wash¬
ington and the North Carolina
home-towns of her bosses, where
she has maintained temporary
residences with her mother and
younger brother and sister at
intervals. There were seven chil¬
dren, six of whom are still living.
Representative Pratt, while in
Washington, makes her home with
a married sister. Mrs. F. Bernard
Smith, who is accountant with the
Public Works Administration. A
brother. Robert Pratt, is in Charles¬
ton. S. C.; a married sister. Mrs.
Hugh Wall. Jr., also lives in
Charleston; Miss Elizabeth Pratt,
another sister, is county health
nurse in Columbus County, and
Lacy Pratt, brother, is manager of
the Leggett store at Radford. Vir¬
ginia.
Planned to Study .Music
Miss Pratt, chatting with the
writer about the family and her
life in Anson County, remarked:
‘'You know. I don’t have a college
degree. When I was at Queens.
Charlotte, I meant to study music.
Folks said I had a rather fair
soprano voice and I had sung in
the choir of the Presbyterian
churches in Troy and Asheboro.
But after papa died, it was neces¬
sary for me to give up college and
go to work to help mother and the
younger children. Since then, I
haven’t had much time for music."
Her busy life has given her very
little time for hobbies, but she
is intensely interested in garden¬
ing and flowers. "Then, too." she
added. "I love to fish. I learned
to like it when 1 was a small girl
and when papa used to leave us
children on the banks of a pond or
creek, in charge of a colored man.
while he attended to business on
the farm.”
She admits that she also likes
to cook. Fried chicken, hominy,
hot rolls and brownies are her
specialties.
Considered as being one of the
capital's best-groomed Congres¬
sional secretaries, she goes in for
tailored suits, black or blue, which
become her tall figure of 5 feet 7
inches. A bit thinner than she was
several years ago. the North Caro¬
lina woman-representative is even
more stylish in appearance. She
tips the scales at 158 at the present.
She is a woman of exceedingly
pleasant personality, and visitors
to the office of the Eighth District
Congressman always knew that
they would be assured of a cordial
welcome from the secretary. Now
that she is the official represent¬
ative of the Eighth, they also know
that this same courtesy and con¬
sideration will be theirs.
'Tve always liked my work."
she told me, "and I like to meet
people. I don’t believe I’ve ever
met a person who wasn’t inter¬
esting. It always was delightful
to have folks from North Carolina
drop into our office when I was
secretary, and it'll be equally de¬
lightful to see them now that the
good people of the Eighth District
have made me their represent¬
ative."
THE STATE Juni IS. 1946
7
