Frances Payne Bolton, the first woman elected to Congress from Ohio, noted philanthropist and the person for whom CWRU's school of nursing is named, will be honored with an official Ohio Historical Marker at a ceremony at 11 a.m. March 4 on the campus of CWRU.

The ceremony will be held outside the main entrance to the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing on the health sciences platform. The marker is one of 10 honoring outstanding Ohio women and is part of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission's celebration of the state's 200th birthday.

"We are delighted that the State of Ohio has seen fit to honor Frances Payne Bolton for her enormous contributions to the nursing profession, to our school and to the public good," said May Wykle, dean and Florence Cellar Professor of Nursing at the Bolton School. "She is truly among the most outstanding women in the history of our state."

Born in 1885, Bolton was passionately devoted to philanthropy and education. Her gift to Western Reserve University in 1923 enabled the University to establish one of the first college-based nursing programs in the country, and the school was renamed in her honor in 1935.

In 1940 she was elected to Congress from the 22nd District to complete the term of her late husband, Chester Bolton. She served in Congress for 28 years. During World War II she sponsored the Bolton Bill, which created the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps to address the shortage of nurses during the war. Later she served as the first woman congressional delegate to the new United Nations. She died in 1977.

Bolton's grandson, Charles Bolton, is a trustee of CWRU and the current chair of the University's Board of Trustees.

Administered by the Ohio Historical Society, the Historical Markers program is designed to commemorate historical events, people and places in Ohio.