FEDERATION PROFILE

The Idaho Federation affiliated with the NFRW in 1944 and has two districts and 18 clubs. 

Prompted by the Republican National Committee, clubs began to form in the early 1900s. RNC Chairman Mark Hanna asked Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, the first woman to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, to visit the Western part of the country to talk to women about getting involved in Republican politics. Dr. Minnie Howard of Pocatello accompanied her. In August 1904, they called a meeting of Republican women of Idaho and elected officers, and formed the first club of women voters in the state.

Members who have held elective office include the Hon. Helen Chenoweth, the Hon. Pattie Anne Lodge, the Hon. Janet Miller, the Hon. Kathie Garrett, the Hon. Dolores Crow, the Hon. Shawn Keough, the Hon. Kathy Skippen, the Hon. Sheila Sorensen, the Hon. Debbie Field, the Hon. Julie Ellsworth, the Hon. Frances Field, the Hon. Sharon Block, the Hon. Maxine Bell, the Hon. Eulalie Langford, the Hon. Janice McGeachin, the Hon. JoAn Wood, the Hon. Lenore Barrett, and the Hon. Ann Rydalch. 

Past presidents include:
Donna Montgomery
Melinda S. Smyser
Coleen Erickson
Carolyn Durant
Janet Miller
Patricia Anne Lodge
Renee Stucki
Helen Lowder
Pamela B. Ahrens
Dorothy Balch
Ione Stafford
Margaret Bunting
Mrs. Ruby Brown
Mrs. Louella Baum
Mrs. Edna Scott
Mrs. Irene Bevington
Mrs. Earl Wright
Mrs. Gertrude Detweiler
Mrs. Bess Myers
Mrs. Zola Stellman
Hazel Shook (founding)

LOCAL CLUBS