Ina Phillips Williams
{{short description|Washington State politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Ina Phillips Williams
|image =
|state = Washington
|state_house = Washington
|district = 20th
|term_start = January 8, 1917
|term_end = January 13, 1919
|alongside = William P. Sawyer
|predecessor = C. E. Lum
William P. Sawyer
|successor = William P. Sawyer
Howard C. Lucas
|birth_name = Ina May Phillips
|birth_date = {{birth date|1876|02|24}}
|birth_place = Tuscumbia, Missouri, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1934|03|23|1876|02|24}}
|death_place = Yakima, Washington, U.S.
|party = Republican
|spouse = Wallis B. Williams (orchardist)
|education = Washington State Normal School at Ellensburg, Washington (now Central Washington University) (graduated)
|occupation = Teacher
}}
Ina Phillips Williams (February 24, 1876 – March 23, 1934) was an American politician who served as a member of the Washington House of Representatives from 1917 to 1919.{{cite web |url=https://leg.wa.gov/History/Legislative/Documents/MembersOfLeg2019.pdf |title=State of Washington: Members of the Legislature 1889-2019 |author= |date= February 2019 |website= Washington Legislative Information Center |publisher=Brad Hendrickson, Secretary of the Senate; Bernard C. Dean, Chief Clerk House of Representatives |access-date=April 14, 2022 |quote=}} She represented Washington's 20th legislative district as a Republican.{{cite web |url=http://web.leg.wa.gov/WomenInTheLegislature/Members/MemberBios/WilliamsI_1917.pdf |title=Ina Phillips Williams |author= |date= |website=Women in the Legislature |publisher=Washington State Legislature |access-date=April 13, 2022 |quote=}}
Early life and education
Williams was born Ina May Phillips{{Cite archive|collection=Pierce County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1876-1947; 1984-Present|institution=Washington State Digital Archives|item=Pierce County Auditor, Marriage Records, 1876-1947; 1984-Present - Wallis B Williams - Ina May Phillips|item-url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/FB5BD95DDDBEB634981C31A808AD9C57|item-id=prcmc-vol-2_325-DA3|series=Marriage Records}} in Tuscumbia, Missouri on February 24, 1876. When she was 10, she was orphaned and moved with her siblings to live with an uncle in Prosser, Washington. By the age of 15, she had begun teaching school.
In 1897, at the age of 20 or 21, she married Wallis B. Williams, a Yakima Valley orchardist. The 1910 census recorded five children (daughters aged 11, 8, 6, and 4, and a one-year-old son), as well as a servant. Wallis is listed as a milling company manager.{{Cite archive|collection=1910, U.S. Federal Census, Yakima County, U.S. Census Bureau|institution=Washington State Digital Archives|item=1910, U.S. Federal Census, Yakima County, U.S. Census Bureau - Ina P Williams|item-url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/D0524D631168F1FECE758DC6FD334B3C|item-id=HRP1910YAK17794|series=Census Records}}
Political career
=Third party politics=
Before and after finding electoral success as a Republican, Williams was engaged in liberal third party politics. She was a delegate for Theodore Roosevelt to the 1912 Progressive National Convention. She also served on the national executive committee of the Committee of 48,{{cite book | editor-last= Haines| editor-first= Lynn | title=The Searchlight | publisher=Searchlight Publishing Company | volume = V, no. 9 | date = February 1921 |page=24 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEoxAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA8-PT1 | access-date=April 13, 2022}} a liberal political association founded in 1919, with the ultimately unsuccessful hope of launching a third political party in opposition to increasingly conservative Republican and Democratic politics.
In August, 1920, she represented the Farmer-Labor Party in a "triangular political discussion" alongside congressional candidate E.K. Brown (representing the Republicans) and the honorable J.J. Miller representing the Democrats. The event in Wapato drew "an immense crowd from all parts of Yakima County."{{Cite news |date=August 23, 1920 |title=Brown Is Promised Excellent Support - Kittitas County Candidate Returns to City |page=1 |work=The Evening Record |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=19200823&id=pMorAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cYQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5995,4606094 |access-date=April 13, 2022}}
Personal life
Williams was an enthusiastic gardener, even helping found gardening clubs around the Yakima Valley. She also served as president of the Yakima Woman's Century Club, an organization founded in 1894 as the Woman's Club that furthered women's civic, social, and literary engagement.{{Cite news |last=Retka |first=Janelle |date=May 7, 2019 |title=Yakima Women's Century Club's long-serving members share history as they are honored |work=Yakima Herald-Republic |url=https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/yakima-womens-century-clubs-long-serving-members-share-history-as-they-are-honored/article_71bc0550-14e3-5ffd-b926-b04585f2f444.html |access-date=April 13, 2022}}
The 1920 census lists Wallis as a fruit farmer.{{Cite archive|collection=1920, U.S. Federal Census, Yakima County, U.S. Census Bureau|institution=Washington State Digital Archives|item=1920, U.S. Federal Census, Yakima County, U.S. Census Bureau - Yak_1920_000322.Tif - Ina P Williams|item-url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/D2816AB5A0415A0046BE648A36B5EDAC|item-id=hrp_1920_Yak_15062|series=Census Records}} Neither the 1910 nor 1920 census lists an occupation for Ina, and her death certificate says she was a housewife for 30 years.
Death and legacy
Williams died of metastatic breast cancer on March 23, 1934, at the age of 58.{{Cite archive|collection=Department of Health, Death Certificates, July 1, 1907-1996|institution=Washington State Digital Archives|item=Department of Health, Death Certificates, July 1, 1907-1996 - Ina P. - Phillips Williams - Clayton Phillips - Et Al.|item-url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/1D9947DF3FBB274F33E57BB469C118C6|item-id={5D6D3415-1424-496A-BF58-4F2A33AC3D88}|series=Death Records}} She is buried at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima.{{Cite archive|collection=Tahoma Cemetery 186ONLINE 2009|institution=Washington State Digital Archives|item=Tahoma Cemetery - Tahoma - P - Ina Williams|item-url=https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/0C8C405E32FDE2F82E4E59AA046B3F9E|item-id=HRPCEMYAKTAH031662|series=Cemetery Records}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.yakimawcc.org/ Yakima Woman's Century Club]
- Central Washington University [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biography-ina-phillips-williams-yakimas-first-woman/id430105348?i=1000092677901 biography podcast] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413173948/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/biography-ina-phillips-williams-yakimas-first-woman/id430105348?i=1000092677901 |date=2022-04-13 }} on Williams
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=-GUzAQAAMAAJ&dq=ina+phillips+williams&pg=RA1-PA34 1917 publication] from the Washington Secretary of State showing Williams as a 1919 Republic primary candidate for Congress from the Fourth Congressional District, and successful election results (from 1916 or 1918?) for state House
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=N3lDAQAAMAAJ&dq=ina+phillips+williams&pg=RA4-PA72 Google Books result] showing unsuccessful run for state legislature as Progressive
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=tHna-hq_auoC&dq=ina+phillips+williams&pg=PA168 Google Books result] with some history of Williams's house and a meeting there with Theodore Roosevelt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Ina Phillips}}
Category:Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives
Category:Women state legislators in Washington (state)
Category:People from Miller County, Missouri
Category:Politicians from Yakima, Washington
Category:Central Washington University alumni
Category:Washington (state) Progressives (1912)
Category:Washington (state) Farmer–Laborites
Category:20th-century American women politicians
Category:20th-century members of the Washington State Legislature