Maurine Brown Neuberger

Maurine Brown Neuberger

The third woman elected to the United States Senate, Maurine Brown Neuberger, Oregon - Omega, took her place after running in the general election for the seat vacated by her husband’s death. Previous to that, both Maurine and her husband, Richard, had served in the Oregon legislature; she in the House and he in the Senate. They were the only husband and wife team elected to a state legislature for many years. Maurine was a consumer advocate in government and focused on environmental and health issues, including sponsorship of one of the first bills to require warning labels on cigarettes. She wrote a book highly critical of the tobacco industry. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed her to be a member of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. She was named the Woman of the Year for 1961.