Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington

Elizabeth P. Farrington
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii Territory's At-large district
In office August 4, 1954 – January 3, 1957[1]
Preceded by	Joseph R. Farrington
Succeeded by	John A. Burns
Personal details
Born	(1898-05-30)May 30, 1898 Tokyo, Japan
Died	July 21, 1984(1984-07-21) (aged 86) Honolulu, Hawaii
Political party	Republican

Farrington grave marker in Oahu Cemetery

Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington (May 30, 1898 – July 21, 1984), usually called Elizabeth P. Farrington, was publisher of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and an American statesman who served as delegate to the United States Congress for the Territory of Hawai'i. She was the wife to Joseph Rider Farrington, whom she had succeeded in Washington, DC. Her father-in-law was the Territorial Governor of Hawai'i Wallace Rider Farrington.

Early life

Farrington was born in Tokyo to American parents on May 30, 1898. She attended Tokyo Foreign School before moving back to the United States. She attended grammar schools in Nashville, Tennessee, El Paso, Texas and Los Angeles, California. After graduating from Hollywood High School, Farrington obtained a degree from Ward-Belmont Junior College of Nashville in 1916. She went on to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she met her husband. She graduated from Wisconsin in 1918. Newly married, she settled in Honolulu. She became a newspaper correspondent for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin through 1957.

Political career

Farrington was elected President of the League of Republican Women, an office she served in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1948. She was then elected to the National Federation of Women's Republican Clubs and served as its president from 1949 to 1953. In 1952, Farrington was a delegate for the Territory of Hawai'i to the Republican National Convention that nominated Dwight Eisenhower to become President of the United States.

Farrington was elected to the United States Congress in a special election to fill a vacancy left by her husband's unexpected death. She was subsequently re-elected to a term in her own right, and served from July 31, 1954 to January 3, 1957. In 1956, she lost her bid for re-election to a third term in Congress and returned to her family's newspaper business in Honolulu.

Newspaper career

Farrington succeeded her husband's office as publisher, president and director of Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She served in those capacities from 1946 to 1963. She concurrently served as director and chairman of the Honolulu Lithograph Company, Limited and president of the Hawaiian Broadcasting System, Limited. She made a brief return to politics when President of the United States Richard Nixon appointed her to be the Director of the Office of Territories of the United States Department of the Interior. After completing her term she retired to Honolulu where she died on July 21, 1984. Her ashes were interred at O'ahu Cemetery.

References

• United States Congress. "Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington (id: F000035)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 

Members of the United States House of Representatives from Hawaii
Territorial (1899–1959)	Seat Wilcox Kalanianaʻole Baldwin Jarrett Houston McCandless King J. Farrington E. Farrington Burns
One At-large seat (1959–1963)	Seat Inouye
Two At-large seat (1963–1971)	Seat Gill Mink Seat Matsunaga
Districts (1971–present)	1st district Matsunaga Heftel Abercrombie Saiki Abercrombie Djou Hanabusa Takai Hanabusa 2nd district Mink Akaka Mink Case Hirono Gabbard