Death and Legacy
On the 18th of May 1973, just weeks before her 93rd birthday, Jeannette Pickering Rankin died of natural causes in Carmel, California. However, Rankin remained as active in politics as she could right up until her death. She continued to produce writing promoting women’s rights, peace, child welfare, and civil rights from her home which remained relevant in the civil rights movement of the era. Her career has left behind a legacy of controversy with some viewing her as impossibly idealistic, and others identifying her as an inspiration to be pursued. Her contributions to various feminist movements cannot be ignored, and continue to be relevant today. Rankin bequeathed her property in Watkinsville, Georgia to help "mature, unemployed women workers." This was the seed money for the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, a 501(c)(3) (non-profit) organization that gives educational scholarships annually to low income women all across the United States. The organization has built capacity since its single $500 scholarship in 1978 to the 80 $2,000 scholarships it awarded in 2007. She also remains recognized for her politics. In 1985, a statue of her was placed in the United States Capitol's Statuary Hall. And in 2004, a play titled A Single Woman, based on the life of Rankin, was produced and in 2009 a film adaptation of the same name was released.
Read more about this topic: Jeannette Rankin, Biography
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