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Mary Shadow

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Mary Shadow
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
from the 10th floterial district
In office
1949–1953
Preceded byWalter White
Succeeded byJ.R. Fischesser
Personal details
Born
Mary Merrill Shadow

(1925-07-17)July 17, 1925
Winchester, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedJanuary 2, 1992(1992-01-02) (aged 66)
Bad Steben, Germany
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
(m. 1950)​
Children7
Education

Mary Merrill Shadow (July 17, 1925 – January 2, 1992) was an American politician who served in the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 10th floterial district from 1949 to 1953, as a member of the Democratic Party.

Shadow was born in Winchester, Tennessee, in 1925 and was educated at Tennessee Wesleyan University, University of Alabama, and the University of Kentucky. She defeated incumbent Representative Walter White for a seat in the state house and served until 1953. She was a delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention and unsuccessfully ran to be a delegate to Tennessee's constitutional convention and for a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives.

Early life and education

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Mary Merrill Shadow was born in Winchester, Tennessee, on July 17, 1925 to Willis Albert Shadow and Mary Merrill Ermlich. She received a scholarship to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1943. She graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan University in 1945, University of Tennessee in 1947, and from University of Alabama and University of Kentucky with a Master of Public Administration in 1948. She married David Lawrence Hill, with whom she had seven children, on December 31, 1950.[1][2]

Shadow became a political science professor at Wesleyan in 1948.[1] She was appointed as youth chair of the International Christian University's $10 million fundraising campaign in 1950.[3]

Shadow was a member of the Garden Club of America, League of Women Voters, American Association of University Women,[1] and Zeta Tau Alpha.[4]

Career

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Shadow was an opponent of E. H. Crump's political machine.[1] Following the Battle of Athens she wrote a research paper on the government of McMinn County, Tennessee.[5] She became secretary-treasurer of the Meigs County Young Democratic Club in 1949.[6] She became chair of the college activities divisions in the Young Democratic Clubs of America.[7][8]

Shadow announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 10th floterial district on April 25, 1948.[9] She defeated incumbent Representative Walter White and Republican nominee Earl Mack Smith in the 1948 election after spending $270. She was the only woman elected to the state legislature in that election and the first unmarried woman elected to the state legislature, and received fourteen marriage proposals after her victory.[10][11][12] She announced her reelection campaign on June 2, 1950, and defeated White in the election.[13][14] She did not seek reelection in 1952, and was succeeded by J.R. Fischesser.[15]

Shadow was selected as secretary of the Democratic caucus in the state house in 1949.[16] The Tennessee Press Corps voted her as "one of the five most able and effective members of the House of Representatives" during the 77th session.[1] She was a member of a delegation sent by the Tennessee General Assembly to the second inauguration of Harry S. Truman.[17] During her tenure in the state house she served on the Finance and Ways and Means committees.[18]

Shadow ran to represent Davidson County, Tennessee, as a delegate to a constitutional convention in the 1952 election, but lost.[19][20] She was a delegate to the 1956 Democratic National Convention from New Mexico and supported Adlai Stevenson II.[1][21]

Later life

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Shadow and her family moved to New Mexico in 1952. She ran for a seat in the New Mexico House of Representatives in the 1956 election and was the only female Democratic nominee for state house, but lost to Republican nominee Thomas R. Roberts.[22][23][24] Their family moved to Connecticut in 1958, where she became a lecturer in gardening and nutrition.[25][26] Her husband worked as a theoretical nuclear physicist.[1] She died on January 2, 1992, in Bad Steben, Germany.[27]

Political positions

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Shadow supported rewriting the Constitution of Tennessee,[28] proposed legislation to allow women to serve on petit and grand juries,[29] supported legislation to repeal anti-closed shop legislation,[30] supported the elimination of poll taxes,[31] and proposed a repeal in 1951 of the Butler Act which prevented the teaching of human evolution in state schools.[32] The act was not repealed until 1967.[33]

Electoral history

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1950 Tennessee House of Representatives 10th floterial district election[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Mary Shadow (incumbent) 3,402 52.45%
Republican Walter White 3,084 47.55%
Total votes 6,486 100.00%
1956 New Mexico House of Representatives election[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Thomas R. Roberts 2,464 53.68%
Democratic Mary Shadow 2,126 46.32%
Total votes 4,590 100.00%

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Cornwell 1989, p. 426.
  2. ^ "Wins Way To UC". Chattanooga Daily Times. May 13, 1943. p. 10. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Miss Shadow Aids Japan University". Chattanooga Daily Times. March 9, 1950. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "U-T Sorority Gives Party For Seniors". The Knoxville Journal. May 13, 1947. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "She Checks Before Starting". The Tennessean. January 30, 1949. p. 82. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Meigs YDC Meets, Chooses Officers". Chattanooga Daily Times. September 11, 1949. p. 25. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "YDC Offer Awaited by Mary Shadow". Knoxville News Sentinel. March 6, 1950. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Mary Shadow Named To YDC Chairmanship". The Jackson Sun. May 12, 1950. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Co-Ed To Seek Meigs Office". Chattanooga Daily Times. April 26, 1948. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Professor Is Elected To State House". Bristol News Bulletin. November 3, 1948. p. 8. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Mary Shadow May Seek Frazier Job, Says Collier's Story on Meigs Girl". Chattanooga Daily Times. January 6, 1950. p. 12. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Tennessee Notebook - Edward B. Smith". Knoxville News Sentinel. November 5, 1948. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Mary Shadow To Run for House Seat Again". Knoxville News Sentinel. June 2, 1950. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Mary Shadow's Lead Officially 318". Knoxville News Sentinel. November 15, 1950. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "County-by-County Vote Canvass". Knoxville News Sentinel. November 14, 1952. p. 8. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Six-Member Election Body Sought For State". The Knoxville Journal. January 4, 1949. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "New Adoption Bill Presented; Backed by Social Groups". Knoxville News Sentinel. January 12, 1949. p. 15. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "State's Only Female Legislator On Her Activities In Assembly". Kingsport Times-News. January 16, 1949. p. 11. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Mrs. Mary Hill Enters Race". The Tennessean. October 26, 1952. p. 8. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Political Pinwheel". Kingsport Times-News. November 9, 1952. p. 18. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Mrs. Hill, Once a Political Success In Tennessee, Rises in New Mexico". Chattanooga Daily Times. August 16, 1956. p. 6. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Mary Hill Announces For Mary Lou's Post". The Santa Fe New Mexican. February 26, 1956. p. 6. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b "Hill Goes For Ike, Strong For Simms". The Santa Fe New Mexican. November 7, 1956. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Democrats Capture Majority Of State Senate, House Seats". Carlsbad Current-Argus. November 8, 1956. p. 22. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Eat your weeds". House & Garden. Vol. 151, no. 8. August 1979. p. 80.
  26. ^ Harley, Ruth W. (May 4, 1975). "Some Weeds Are Delicious As Well As Nutritious". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  27. ^ "Mary S. Hill". Stamford Advocate. January 4, 1992. p. 4.
  28. ^ "Unlimited State Constitutional Meet Proposed". Bristol News Bulletin. December 17, 1948. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Assembly". Kingsport Times-News. January 11, 1949. p. 10. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Opposition Forms to Closed Shop Repeal". Knoxville News Sentinel. January 12, 1949. p. 15. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Browning's Work Praised At Fiery Political Panel". The Tennessean. February 11, 1949. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Mary Shadow Seeking Evolution Law Repeal". Chattanooga Daily Times. March 10, 1951. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Hariman, Robert. Popular Trials : Rhetoric, Mass Media, and the Law. Tuscaloosa, University Of Alabama Press, 1993, p. 57.

Works cited

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