Willa Blake Eslick

Willa McCord Blake Eslick
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 7th district
In office
August 13, 1932 – March 3, 1933
Preceded byEdward E. Eslick
Succeeded byGordon Browning
Personal details
Born
Willa McCord Blake

(1878-09-08)September 8, 1878
Fayetteville, Tennessee
DiedFebruary 18, 1961(1961-02-18) (aged 82)
Pulaski, Tennessee
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseEdward E. Eslick
Alma materDick White College
Milton College

Willa Eslick (née McCord Blake; September 8, 1878 – February 18, 1961) was a U.S. Representative from Tennessee, wife of Edward Everett Eslick and the first woman to represent Tennessee in the United States Congress.

Biography

Born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, Eslick was the daughter of George Washington and Eliza McCord Blake.[1] She attended private schools, including Dick White College and Milton College in Fayetteville, Tennessee, as well as Winthrop Model School and Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. She also attended the Metropolitan College of Music and Synthetic School of Music in New York City. She served as a member of the Tennessee state Democratic committee,[2] and was the first woman elected to Congress from Tennessee. She married Edward Everett Eslick on June 6, 1906.[3]

Career

Eslick was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death in office of her husband, Representative Edward Eslick. Eslick served as a Representative from August 14, 1932, until March 3, 1933.[4] She was not eligible for reelection to the Seventy-third Congress, not having qualified for nomination as required by state law.

Death

Eslick died on February 18, 1961, in Pulaski, Tennessee, at age 82 years, 163 days. She is interred at Maplewood Cemetery. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Order of the Eastern Star.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Willa McC. Blake Eslick". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Willa McC. Blake Eslick". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Willa McC. Blake Eslick". Office of the Historian. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Willa McC. Blake Eslick". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Willa McC. Blake Eslick". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 7 May 2013.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 7th congressional district

1932-1933
Succeeded by