The first congresswoman to give birth in office was no stranger to breaking boundaries
Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was a California Democrat
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Kayla Epstein.
Last week, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), 49, announced she’s expecting her second child, setting her up to make history. Ten women have given birth while serving in Congress, but none of them have been senators.
The first congresswoman to give birth in office was Rep. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke in 1973. Burke, a Democrat, was also the first black woman elected to the House from California.
When Burke announced her pregnancy, she was 40. When Autumn Roxanne Burke was born in November 1973, her mother became the first member of Congress to be granted maternity leave.
During Burke’s time in Congress, she advocated tirelessly for women and minorities. As a new representative, she earned a seat on the House Appropriations Committee, a coveted role. But eventually, her career came into conflict with her parenting, and she decided not to run for reelection in 1978.
“I didn’t leave Congress because I did not enjoy it. I enjoyed it very much,” she told the National Visionary Leadership Project. “But by the time my daughter got old enough to go to school in first grade, it just was going to be impossible, so I had to make some choices. And that’s when I decided to come back to Los Angeles.”
She went on to serve more than 17 years on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors before retiring in 2008. Burke still sits on Amtrak’s board of directors after being appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012.
Looking back
When Burke, who is now 85, announced her pregnancy, the response was mixed, but many of her colleagues were supportive.
“There were people who were critical, but there were people who were very supportive, and then there was curiosity. How could a woman at my age have a baby and, at the same time, be a Member of Congress?” Burke said in a 2015 interview with the Office of the Historian for the U.S. House of Representatives. “… It was unusual for a woman who was in business or an elective office to talk about having family and being able to carry out their duties.”
“Members of Congress were fabulous, they were really great. They gave me a shower,” Burke recalled in an interview with NVLP. “They’d never had a woman have a baby in Congress.”
Burke received a great deal of attention for her landmark birth. She famously appeared with Autumn on the cover of Ebony in March of 1974 and penned an essay for the magazine titled, “The Kind of World I Want for My Child.”
“I think it is important for white people to get over some of their limitations in terms of how they see blacks,” she wrote. “So you have to take every change you get. That’s why, when people ask me what Autumn is going to be when she grows up, I tell them: ‘She’s going to be president.’”
She added: “I don’t really care what Autumn does with her life as long as she is a good person, but I say that to put it on people’s minds so that they can expand their vision.”
Burke’s daughter did follow in her mother’s footsteps. Autumn Burke won a seat in the California State Assembly in 2014. And she, too, has a daughter.
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