Reva Beck Bosone
The first woman elected to the US House of Representatives in Utah and first woman to be elected as a judge in Utah was Reva Beck Bosone, who represented the Second Congressional District from 1949-1951.
Reva Beck Bosone was born in 1895 to her parents Christian and Zilpha in American Fork, Utah. She was the only daughter of four children, her mother descended from Mormon pioneers and Mayflower pilgrims.[1] She graduated from the University of California, Berkley in 1919, with a Bachelor of Arts and later University of Utah law school. It was at the University of Utah that she met her future husband, Joseph P. Bosone, as a classmate. They married in 1929 and had a daughter the following year. At the same time their private practice, Bosone & Bosone, opened in Helper, Utah. Reva became the 11th woman admitted to the Utah State Bar and only the 4th woman to graduate from the University of Utah's law school. [2]
Reva Beck Bosone Portrait, circa 1945
Bosone successfully ran for Utah State House of Representative in Carbon County, campaigning while carrying her two-year-old daughter door to door. Her campaign resulted in Bosone being elected to Utah’s House with “the highest vote received by any candidate for an office in the country.” She served from 1933-1935. [3] Due to the legislature being in Salt Lake City. The Bosones moved their practice to the capital in 1933 where Bosone practiced concurrently to her legislative duties. During this time, she was elected floor leader of the Democratic members and supported Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation which included worker’s rights and minimum wage laws for women and children. [2]
After serving in Utah's House of Representatives, Bosone was elected as the first woman judge in Utah, serving on Salt Lake City's bench from 1936-1948 being reelected twice. She served as a traffic judge, known for giving high traffic violation fines and a no-tolerance attitude for drunk driving. During this time Bosone also hosted a radio show called 'Her Honor the Judge' where she presented legal cases. [4] In 1940 she and her husband, Joseph, divorced. [1]
In 1948 Bosone ran for one of Utah's seats in the US House of Representatives, challenging one-term incumbent William Adams Dawson. Her campaign was focused on water rights, women's rights, and Native American issues. Bosone won the 1948 election and became the first woman legislator sent to Washington DC to represent the state of Utah.[5]
All the Democratic Women Representing Utah in Washington D.C., 1958
Bosone became one of 9 women and 522 men in the 81st congress.[2] Her concept of a legislator's duties was contained in a pre-election statement:
"Office holders should do the job that should be done, whether the required course of action is popular or not...The biggest need in politics and government today is for people of integrity and courage, who will do what they believe is right and not worry about the political consequences to themselves." [3]
This sentiment was demonstrated multiple times in Bosone's unwillingness to compromise on certain bills. She was one of only four votes against the creation of the CIA, citing concern that there were no clear guidelines regarding use of taxpayer money by the agency.[4]
She ran for reelection in 1950, her opponent was Ivy Baker Priest. This is was the first election in the US where two women were the final candidates for a national office. This brought a great amount of national press and unwonted attention. Many theorized the campaign would dissolve into a “cat fight;” while the campaign was contentious, it never dissolved into violence. Reva Bosone was reelected to the House in 1950, defeating Ivy Baker Priest. [6]
Judge Bosone proposed legislation in the US House to remove the American Indians from government wardship[2]. The term "ward" dates back to 1831 when Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall compaired the relationship between the US Government and Native Americans as "a ward and his guardian". This term is used by the US Government to describe its relationship with members of Tribal Nations, as they have sovereignty while being citizens. [7]
Shinny is a sport popular among Native American tribes, similar to hockey. This is a photo of some players among the Native Americans who moved to be closer to their children who were boarded at Whiterocks Boarding School, date unknown
Wilbur Cuch, France McKinley and Rudolph Nephi working on land status maps for Uintah and Ouray Reservations in Ft. Duschene, Utah, 1950
This legislation was a part of the "Indian Termination Policy" that plagued the US Congress from the 1940s-1960s. Bosone's proposed change in status would remove Native Tribes from the oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was very distrusted by many Tribal Nations due to charges of corruption. This was seen as beneficial to conservatives congress as it would lead to the termination of a federal agency and therefore savings in the federal budget. However, it would also remove protections provided to reservations such as guarentees of Native sovereignty as well as federal protections against discrimination.[8] For these reasons and many more, Bosone's proposed legislation was very contentious.
When serving on the Indian and Insular Affairs Committee and developing her bill Bosone traveled to many boarding schools around the country and spoke with Native American leaders. [5] There were many Native American tribes who fully supported the measure as BIA was seen as corrupt and the reason many tribes never received the resources they desperately needed. Post-WWII Communism was a huge concern, Native American Reservations were seen as communal ownership and too similar to communism. This, along with the increasing amount of natural gas found on reservations, increased legislator's desire to end Native wardship and begin selling off pieces of reservations nationwide.[7] In 1953 a version of Bosone's bill passed, House Concurrent Resolution 108, calling for termination "at the earliest possible time." From 1953 to 1970, when Congress shifted policy to self-determination, Congress initiated the termination of 60 Native tribes. As a result of this policy over 3 million acres of land were stolen from Native Americans. [9]
In 1952 and again in 1954, Reva Bosone was defeated for election to the House by William A. Dawson. Following the 1954 defeat, she had a private law practice until 1958 when she became legal counsel for the Subcommittee of Safety and Compensation of the House Committee on Education. [4]
The problems of juvenile delinquency and alcoholism were of special interest to Bosone. She was appointed director of the Utah State Board for Education in Alcoholism and served in that capacity between 1947 and 1948. For her work in this area, as well as that of juvenile delinquency, Bosone was elected to Utah's Hall of Fame in 1943. [1]
In 1946, Judge Bosone was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, and in 1965 was considered for an appointment to that body with the resignation of Justice Arthur J. Goldberg. Reva Beck Bosone died in 1983. [2]
Reva Beck Bosone Papers Finding Aid
Reva Beck Bosone Photograph Collection Finding Aid
[1] Reva Beck Bosone papers - Archives West. (2024). Orbiscascade.org. https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv79031
[2] Reva Beck Bosone - Utah Women’s History - Better Days. (2023, December 27). Utah Women’s History - Better Days. https://utahwomenshistory.org/the-women/reva-beck-bosone/
[3] Reva Beck Bosone · Aileen H. Clyde 20th Century Women’s Legacy Archive · J. Willard Marriott Library Exhibits. (2025). Utah.edu. https://exhibits.lib.utah.edu/s/aileen-h-clyde-20th-century-women-s-legacy-archive/page/reva-beck-bosone
[4] BOSONE, Reva Zilpha Beck | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. (n.d.). History.house.gov. https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/9625
[5] Reva Beck Bosone papers, MS 0127. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
[6] Ivy Baker Priest papers - Archives West. (2019). Orbiscascade.org. https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv78616
[8] Valandra, E. C. (2006). Not Without Our Consent: Lakota Resistance to Termination, 1950-59. Ukraine: University of Illinois Press.