Helen Douglas Mankin
Helen Douglas Mankin (September 11, 1896 – July 25, 1956) was an American politician. She was the second woman to represent Georgia in the United States House of Representatives, serving part of one term from 1946 to 1947 after winning a special election to fill the seat of a predecessor who had resigned.
Helen Douglas Mankin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 5th district | |
| In office January 1, 1946 – January 2, 1947 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Ramspeck |
| Succeeded by | James C. Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Helen Douglas September 11, 1896 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | July 25, 1956 (aged 59) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Rockford College |
Life
Mankin was born September 11, 1896, in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. She grew up there, attending public and private schools. She graduated with an A.B. from Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois, in 1917. She graduated with an LL.B. from Atlanta Law School in 1920.[1]
World War I
During and after the First World War, Mankin served as an ambulance driver and mechanic in the American Women's Hospital Unit No. 1, a Red Cross unit attached to the French army in 1918 and 1919. She was there as a civilian and was not officially a military veteran. She was decorated by the French government with a Medaille de Reconnaissance.[1]
In 1925, Douglas became the fifth national president of the Women's Overseas Service League.[1]
Career
After the war and earning her law degree, Mankin entered private practice as an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]
State legislature
She entered politics, and served as a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1937 until 1946.[2]
Congress
In 1946, Mankin was elected as a Democrat to represent the fifth congressional district of Georgia in the 79th United States Congress, filling the seat left vacant by the resignation of Robert Ramspeck. She took her seat February 12, 1946.
Campaign for re-election
Mankin was an unsuccessful candidate in that year's Democratic Party primary election when she sought renomination (although she won a majority of Atlanta's African-American vote). She was then an unsuccessful write-in candidate in the general election.
Later career and death
Mankin's term of office concluded January 3, 1947. She continued to live in Atlanta, and she died there on July 25, 1956.
References
- "Miss Helen Douglas". Carry on. 4 (3): 9. August 1925.
- Georgia Encyclopedia-Helen Douglas Mankin
- United States Congress. "Helen Douglas Mankin (id: M000097)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Spritzer, Lorraine Nelson. The Belle of Ashby Street: Helen Douglas Mankin and Georgia Politics. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1982.
- MANKIN, Helen Douglas, Office of the Historian: Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk
- Helen Douglas Mankin (1894-1956), New Georgia Encyclopedia