In the 1920s, the Democratic party in New Jersey was controlled by county bosses like Frank Hague of Hudson County. In 1920, Hague appointed Jersey City social worker Mary Norton (1875-1959) as the first woman member of the Democratic State Committee. In 1924, with Hague's backing, Norton was elected to the House of Representatives, the first Democratic woman elected to Congress without being preceded by her husband. Norton served thirteen successive terms in Congress. As Chairman of the Labor Committee, she guided the passage of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Lanham Act (1943), which provided federal funding for day-care centers.