imported>Jevansen: added Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives using HotCat

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added Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives using HotCat

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{{Short description|American politician (1878–1961)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Willa McCord Blake Eslick
| image name=Willa McCord Blake Eslick.jpg
| state=[[Tennessee]]
| district=[[United States House of Representatives, Tennessee District 7|7th]]
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| term_start=August 13, 1932
| term_end=March 3, 1933
| preceded=[[Edward E. Eslick]]
| succeeded=[[Gordon Browning]]
| birth_name=Willa McCord Blake
| birth_date={{Birth date|1878|09|08}}
| birth_place=[[Fayetteville, Tennessee]]
| death_date={{Death date and age|1961|02|18|1878|09|08}}
| death_place=[[Pulaski, Tennessee]]
| spouse=[[Edward E. Eslick]]
| children=
| occupation=
| residence=
| alma_mater=Dick White College <br/>Milton College
| signature=
}}

'''Willa Eslick''' (née '''McCord Blake'''; September 8, 1878 – February 18, 1961) was a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Tennessee]], wife of [[Edward Everett Eslick]] and the first woman to represent Tennessee in the [[United States Congress]].

==Biography==
Born in [[Fayetteville, Tennessee]], Eslick was the daughter of George Washington and Eliza McCord Blake.<ref>{{cite web|title=Willa McC. Blake Eslick|url=http://records.ancestry.com/Willa_McCord_Blake_records.ashx?pid=25955903|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref> She attended private schools, including Dick White College and Milton College in [[Fayetteville, Tennessee]], as well as Winthrop Model School and Peabody College in [[Nashville, Tennessee]]. She also attended the Metropolitan College of Music and Synthetic School of Music in [[New York City]]. She served as a member of the Tennessee state Democratic committee,<ref>{{cite web|title=Willa McC. Blake Eslick|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000217|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref> and was the first woman elected to Congress from Tennessee. She married Edward Everett Eslick on June 6, 1906.<ref>{{cite web|title=Willa McC. Blake Eslick|url=http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/12870|publisher=Office of the Historian|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref>

==Career==
Eslick was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to the [[72nd United States Congress|Seventy-second]] Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death in office of her husband, Representative [[Edward Eslick]]. Eslick served as a Representative from August 14, 1932, until March 3, 1933.<ref>{{cite web|title=Willa McC. Blake Eslick|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/willa_eslick/403903|publisher=Govtrack US Congress|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref> She was not eligible for reelection to the [[73rd United States Congress|Seventy-third]] Congress, not having qualified for nomination as required by state law.

==Death==
Eslick died on February 18, 1961, in [[Pulaski, Tennessee]], at age 82 years, 163 days. She is [[burial|interred]] at Maplewood Cemetery. She was a member of the [[American Association of University Women]], the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]], the [[United Daughters of the Confederacy]], and the [[Order of the Eastern Star]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Willa McC. Blake Eslick|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/TN/oes.html|publisher=The Political Graveyard|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Women in the United States House of Representatives]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|E000217}}
*[http://history.house.gov/People/Detail/12870 Office of the Historian]
*{{Find a Grave|6910250}}

{{Bioguide}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
|state=Tennessee
|district=7
|before=[[Edward E. Eslick]]
|after=[[Gordon Browning]]
|years=1932-1933
}}
{{s-end}}
{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 72nd [[United States Congress]] |state=[[Tennessee]]}}
{{USCongRep/TN/72}}
{{USCongRep-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eslick, Willa Mccord Blake}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1961 deaths]]
[[Category:Female members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Women in Tennessee politics]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee]]
[[Category:People from Fayetteville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]

Willa Blake Eslick - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: added Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives using HotCat