The Hon. Elizabeth Gasque Van Exem

The Hon. Elizabeth Gasque Van Exem (1886-1989) was born, Elizabeth Hawley on Rice Creek Plantation in Richland County, S.C. She was the first woman elected to represent South Carolina in the U. S. Congress.

Elizabeth Hawley attended the South Carolina Coeducational Institute in Edgefield and was graduated from Greenville Female College in 1907. When her husband, Rep. Allard Henry Gasque, a Democrat representing South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, died in 1938, she was elected to fill his unexpired term. She won a special election where she received more than 5,200 votes against her Democratic opponents, who received a combined total of 225 votes. Gasque served as a congresswoman from Sept. 13, 1938 until Jan. 3, 1939 and sought re-election for the position.

She later married J. F. Van Exem.