Corinne Boyd Riley

Corinne Boyd Riley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 2nd district
In office
April 10, 1962 – January 3, 1963
Preceded byJohn Jacob Riley
Succeeded byAlbert Watson
Personal details
Born(1893-07-04)July 4, 1893
Piedmont, South Carolina
DiedApril 12, 1979(1979-04-12) (aged 85)
Sumter, South Carolina
Resting placeSumter, South Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJohn Jacob Riley
Alma materConverse College
Professionteacher

Corinne Boyd Riley (July 4, 1893 – April 12, 1979) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina, wife of John Jacob Riley.

Born in Piedmont, South Carolina, Riley attended public school. She graduated from Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1915. She was a teacher. Served as field representative of the South Carolina State Text Book Commission from 1938 to 1942. Riley was associated with the Civilian Personnel Office at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina during World War II, from 1942 to 1944.[1]

Riley was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh Congress, by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative her husband, John Jacob Riley, a World War I veteran,[2] and served from April 10, 1962, to January 3, 1963. Her opponent in the Democratic primary was state legislator Martha Thomas Fitzgerald; it was believed to be the first time in South Carolina history that two women had competed against each other in a congressional election.[3] She was not a candidate for reelection to the Eighty-eighth Congress in 1962. She retired and died on April 12, 1979, in Sumter, South Carolina.[4] Her remains were cremated; her ashes interred in Sumter Cemetery, South Carolina.

  1. ^ Schultz, Jeffrey D.; Assendelft, Laura A. Van (1999). Encyclopedia of Women in American Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9781573561310.
  2. ^ Wasniewski, Matthew Andrew (2006). Women in Congress, 1917-2006. Government Printing Office. p. 413. ISBN 9780160767531. Corinne Boyd Riley.
  3. ^ "The Item – Google News Archive Search". google.com. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  4. ^ "RILEY, Corinne Boyd | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-15.