Senator Maurine Neuberger's Oral History

This transcript is from a 1991 interview oral historian Clark Hansen conducted with Maurine Neuberger, the only woman ever elected by Oregonians to the U.S. Senate. This transcript selection has been edited to highlight Neuberger’s views on women in politics. Hansen, of the Oregon Historical Society, visited Neuberger numerous times and spent twelve hours interviewing her about her childhood, her husband Richard Neuberger, her political career, and her opinions about women in politics. It was one of a series of interviews concerning the history of the Oregon Legislature.

Neuberger, who worked in politics between 1950 and 1966, began her career in the Oregon Legislature, where she was elected three times to the state house. She and her husband, then a state senator, were both Democrats and worked as a political team. After Richard won a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1954, she went to Washington D.C. to serve as his aide. Richard Neuberger died from a massive cerebral hemorrhage in 1960, just before his reelection campaign. Maurine Neuberger ran for his seat, becoming the third woman nationally to be elected to the U.S. Senate for a full, six-year term.

Neuberger became known for her outspokenness and independence. She took on the tobacco industry, writing a book linking smoking to cancer, entitled Smoke Screen. She also focused on consumer advocacy and environmental issues.

In interviews, Neuberger said she did not consider herself a “militant feminist.” While she contended that she was not discriminated against by her political peers, Neuberger said she thought that lack of childcare was the primary reason more women did not enter politics. Neuberger, who had no children herself, sponsored unsuccessful legislation that would have offered parents tax deductions for childcare costs.

Neuberger left the Senate in 1966. She died Feb. 22, 2000.

Written by Kathy Tucker, © Oregon Historical Society, 2002.