Honeyman, Nan Wood (1881–1970)

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Honeyman, Nan Wood (1881–1970)

Member of the United States House of Representatives, 1937–1939. Born Nan Wood on July 15, 1881, in West Point, New York; died December 10, 1970, in Woodacre, California; married David T. Honeyman, in 1907.

Nan Wood was born on July 15, 1881, in West Point, New York, where her father worked as adjutant of the U.S. Military Academy. When he resigned in 1883, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, where Nan Wood attended private schools. In 1898, she graduated from St. Helen's Hall and later studied music for three years at the Finch School in New York City. There she began a lifelong friendship with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that in later years developed into a strong working relationship. In 1907, at about the age of 26, Nan Wood married Portland hardware company executive David T. Honeyman.

In 1933, Nan Wood Honeyman began her public life by serving as president of the Oregon State Constitutional Convention that ratified the 21st Amendment, thereby repealing Prohibition. Two years later, she became a member of the Oregon House of Representatives; she also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1936 and 1940. In 1936, Honeyman was elected to represent Oregon's Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives over Republican incumbent William A. Ekwall and an independent candidate.

During her term of office, Honeyman served on the Committee on Indian Affairs, the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, and the Committee on Rivers and Harbors. Her close ties to the White House and active support of New Deal policies led some to believe that she would have a fruitful career in Congress. Critics, however, claimed that her promotion of President Roosevelt's political agenda led her to neglect constituent concerns. Honeyman ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 1938, despite support from Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes, and again in 1940; in both elections, she was defeated by Homer D. Angell.

In July 1941, Honeyman was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the state senate, where she served until she resigned in October to take the position of senior representative of the Pacific Coast Office of Price Administration. In May of 1942, Roosevelt appointed her collector of customs for the 29th District in Portland, Oregon, a post she retained until July of 1953. In the mid-1960s, Honeyman moved to Woodacre, California, where she died at the age of 89 on December 10, 1970. She was interred in a family plot at Riverview Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.