User:Mharbert20/Cornelia Bryce Pinchot

Cornelia Bryce Pinchot (born 1881 - died 1960) was an American suffragist, activist, and political candidate in Pennsylvania. Married to Gifford Pinchot, former Governor of Pennsylvania, she used her status as first lady of Pennsylvania to advocate for several causes, including women's rights and labor rights. She also unsuccessfully ran twice for Congress, saying of her failed campaigns that "People did not seem as anxious to send me to Congress as I was to go".

Early life
Cornelia Bryce was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1881, to parents Lloyd Bryce and Edith Cooper Bryce. She had one brother, Peter Cooper Bryce. Her family had a long political tradition; her father was a congressman and her grandfather Edward Cooper was mayor of New York City. Through her family friend Teddy Roosevelt she became involved in the Bull Moose campaign, where she met her future husband, Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot and Bryce married in 1914. In 1915, Pinchot gave birth to a son, Gifford Bryce Pinchot.

Career and activism
Pinchot was a strong suffrage advocate before ever meeting her husband. She served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Woman's Suffrage Association in 1918 and 1919, during the time they were lobbying the Pennsylvania state legislature to ratify the 19th amendment. After its ratification, she became active in the League of Women Voters.

After realizing there were no women on the local school board, Pinchot became a school board member and worked to get other women on the board as well.

She was a strong advocate for birth control, which drew the ire of Catholic groups in Pennsylvania.

After registering as a Republican, she became very active politically in Pennsylvania. She became the first women from her county on the Pennsylvania Republican committee. She also was active in Republican women's groups, serving as treasurer of the Pennsylvania Republican Women's Committee and founding the State Council of Republican Women.

Pinchot spoke out on several women's issues to try to push the state legislature to action, including equal pay, and reform for divorce laws and property ownership.

Late life and death
Pinchot died in Washington D.C., in 1960.