The Caraway papers (19 items) mainly consist of incoming letters to Paul Wyatt Caraway, son of Senators Thaddeus and Hattie Caraway. Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to the United States Senate, wrote 13 letters to her son Paul from 1927-1930, in which she commented on her social activities, travel, and other subjects. Other items include letters written by her sons Robert ("Bobbie") (4 items) and Paul (1 item) and by an anonymous writer (1 item).
In her letters, which include 7 dated items (February 19, 1927-[1930]) and 6 undated items from around the same period, Hattie Caraway frequently commented on her social acquaintances and activities in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. She and her husband, Senator Thaddeus Caraway, often attended luncheons with other public officials and their wives, and she also played cards. On at least one occasion, she anticipated attending a function with First Lady Grace Coolidge. Several letters contain references to Paul's friend Maxie, a fellow academy cadet, and Maxie's difficulties with a woman named Martha. Caraway occasionally discussed aspects of home life, such as her attempt to clear land on a new estate and the family's Siamese cat, and one of her undated letters has a reference to election returns that disappointed the Democratic Party. Her lengthy letter dated June 17, 1930, concerns her time onboard the American Export Lines steamer Exarch, bound for Europe; she described the Azores, her fellow passengers, and shipboard social interactions.
Robert Caraway ("Bobbie") wrote 3 letters to his brother Paul, including one onboard the Exarch in June 1930, providing personal news. His letter to his father, dated June 25-26, 1928, concerns his voyage to Malta and contains descriptions of sights around the Strait of Gibraltar. Paul Caraway wrote an undated letter to his girlfriend Della about about his social life, reassuring her about his casual interactions with other women. The final item is an unsigned draft of a letter to Paul about a dance and about Paul's friend Maxie.
Hattie Ophelia Wyatt was born near Bakersville, Tennessee, on February 1, 1878, the daughter of William Carroll Wyatt and Lucy Mildred Burch. After graduating from Dickson Normal College in Tennessee in 1896, she briefly taught school. In 1902, she married Thaddeus Horatius Caraway (1871-1931), a Democrat who later served as a United States Senator from Arkansas (1913-1931). Prior to his election, the Caraways lived in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and during his terms in the Senate, they had a second home in Riverdale, Maryland. Hattie Caraway was appointed to fill her husband's seat temporarily after his death in November 1931, and she successfully ran for the Senate in 1932 and 1938, becoming the country's first elected female senator. During her terms, she participated in several committees, and she co-sponsored the Equal Rights Amendment in 1943. After losing her seat in the election of 1944, Caraway held positions on the Employees' Compensation Commission and Employees' Compensation Appeals Board. She died in Virginia on December 21, 1950.
Hattie Wyatt Caraway and Thaddeus Horatius Caraway had three sons: Paul (1905-1985), Forrest, and Robert ("Bobbie"). Paul attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and later became a lieutenant general in the United States Army.
