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Florence Prag Kahn (1886-1948) Florence Prag Kahn was the first Jewish woman and only the fifth woman to serve in the United States Congress, where, after replacing her husband, she served five terms. Though born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kahn was raised in, and spent much of her adult life working for, the San Francisco Bay area. Graduating from the University of California, she was teaching English and History when she married Julius Kahn in 1899. Julius Kahn served the Bay area as its Republican congressman, and so she, her husband and their two sons spent most of their time in Washington, D.C. When her husband died in 1924, she was appointed by the governor in his stead, and then won election in her own right. A Republican conservative, Kahn was the first woman to serve on the Military Affairs Committee, where she worked for the military installations of her district. She served in the United States House of Representatives for 12 years, a strong voice for Bay Area public works projects and the rights of Chinese women and Native Americans. Kahn was a member of the National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah, and belonged to Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.
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