CELEBRATING THE GRAND OLD PARTY

A specialist on land law and farm mortgages, Dick T. Morgan (R-OK) served in the Congress from 1909 until his death in 1920. A member of the Expenditures in the Treasury, Public Lands, and Judiciary Committees, Morgan sponsored the Rural Credits Act, which was enacted in 1916.

Congressional collections have a wealth of personal and social material. In this letter to his wife, Morgan recounts the debate of the United States entry into World War I as well as Jeannette Rankin’s (R-MT) first day in the House. Rankin was the first woman to serve in Congress.

Lorraine Michael "Nick" Gensman was born August 26, 1878, in Andale, Kansas, a small town near Wichita. Gensman arrived in Lawton, Oklahoma, on July 23, 1901, two weeks before the city was opened for settlement. In 1918, he became the first Republican elected as the prosecuting attorney of Comanche County and was only the second elected official in Comanche County from the Republican Party. The Republican landslide of 1920 helped Gensman defeat Elmer Thomas for the Sixth District U.S. Congressional seat. In so doing, he became the first Republican to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from the Sixth District. Gensman served on the Committee on Committees, the Committee on Indian Affairs, and the Committee on Insular Affairs in the Sixty-seventh Congress. In 1922 he was defeated by Thomas in a bid for reelection. He served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1924.

Influential Enid businessman Milton C. Garber (R-OK, shown at right) served in the House from 1923-1933. A member of several committees, he sought adjusted compensation for veterans. As a staunch opponent of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, Garber never hesitated to vent his frustration with the Democratic administration.