Quick Facts
Biography
Sherrill Redmon is the first wife of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.
Redmon and McConnell were married from 1968 to 1980 and had three children: Elly McConnell, Porter McConnell, Claire McConnell.
After their divorce, Redmon became a feminist scholar at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and become the director of the Sophia Smith Collection of the Women's History Archives, in 1993. While at Smith College, she worked to expand the Collection to make it more racially and culturally diverse. She also worked with well-known journalist and feminist, Gloria Steinem, on an oral history project called Voices of Feminism.
Mitch married United States Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, in on February 6, 1993 -- choosing that date for three reasons: It's Ronald Reagan's birthday, it was just before Chao's 40th birthday, and it was right before a one-week Senate recess..
Education
Redmon earned a bachelor's of arts degree from University of Louisville, Kentucky. Later, she attended University of Kentucky and received a Doctor of Philosphy, PhD. in 1974.