- “A New Post for Gracie Pfost” with Frank Church, 1962, from the Frank Church Papers, Special Collection and Archives.
Gracie Bowers Pfost (pronounced “post”) spent her adult life in Canyon County. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Idaho. She represented the Democratic party in Washington, D.C. from 1952 through 1962. Rep. Pfost earned the nickname “Hell’s Belle” while acting as the chief sponsor of a bill to authorize federal construction of a high dam at Idaho’s Hells Canyon. In 1963 President Kennedy appointed her as Special Assistant for Elderly Housing in the Federal Housing Administration.
For more information, contact Albertsons Library Special Collections and Archives regarding the “Gracie Pfost Papers, 1936-1973,” or email them at archives@boisestate.edu.
Sarah Waddell,
Marketing and Communication Specialist