A. Louise Staman is an accomplished woman. She’s an award-winning poet, the author of five books, a grandmother of two and mother of three daughters, including Sweet Briar’s own outdoor programs director, Laura Staman.

Courtesy of Tiger Iron PressBut when she’s talking about the subject of her latest book, there’s just no tamping down her enthusiasm. Staman calls Rebecca Latimer Felton the “most remarkable woman [she] has ever encountered in American history.”

As a preamble to Women’s History Month, the author will speak on her biography, “Loosening Corsets: The Heroic Life of Georgia’s Feisty Mrs. Felton, First Woman Senator of the United States,” at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in Johnson Dining Room at Prothro Commons. Sweet Briar’s co-curricular life office is sponsoring the event, which is open the public.

Among other things, Felton was a journalist, suffragist, proponent of civil rights, and a champion for education of blacks and whites. At age 87, she became the first woman to be sworn in to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 21, 1922.

According to Staman, how Felton got there in an age when women had only just won the right to vote is a tale of twists and turns, not all of which she is willing to divulge in advance of her talk. Suffice to say, Felton’s assumption of the Georgia senate seat, which was vacated when its previous occupant died while in office, was perfectly legal in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.

A. Louise Staman will sign copies of her book Feb. 28.“That part of her story is just amazing,” Staman said, adding that, until the lecture, “I’m not going to tell what happened. Or why, or how.”

She would say that Felton arrived for her swearing in with two speeches in her coat pocket, one to accept the seat, the other in case she was not allowed to take the oath of office. “She was that uncertain right up until the last minute,” Staman said.

History records which speech Felton gave, and in it she made a promise that was left to future women senators — 33 to date — to fulfill.

“When the women of the country come in and sit with you, though there may be but very few in the next few years, I pledge you that you will get ability, you will get integrity of purpose, you will get exalted patriotism, and you will get unstinted usefulness,” Felton told her Senate colleagues.

Laura Staman says that her mother’s excitement over Felton’s story is in character. They had many discussions while she was working on the book.

“The cutting edge of what this woman did fascinated me, and I think those are the things that fascinated my mom,” Laura said. “I sometimes see parallels between Rebecca [Felton] and my mom. She’s kind of a mover and a shaker, too, so it was fun to see her writing about Rebecca from my vantage.”

Staman will sign copies of her book in the atrium following the lecture. Attendees also may purchase dinner at a cost of $6.75 for guests, $3.50 for ages 3 to 11; $5.50 with a Sweet Briar ID, $2.75 for ages 3 to 11.

For more information, please call (434) 381-6134.

– By Jennifer McManamay, SBC staff writer