Maryon Pittman Allen
Maryon Allen | |
---|---|
United States Senator from Alabama | |
In office June 8, 1978 – November 7, 1978 | |
Appointed by | George Wallace |
Preceded by | James Allen |
Succeeded by | Donald Stewart |
Personal details | |
Born | Maryon Pittman November 30, 1925 Jim Allen (1964–1978) |
Children | 3 2 stepchildren |
Education | University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa |
Maryon Allen (née Pittman; November 30, 1925 – July 23, 2018) was an American
Early life
Maryon Pittman was born in Meridian, Mississippi, in 1925. The following year the family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where her father established a tractor dealership and where she grew up and attended public school. From 1944 to 1947, she studied journalism at the University of Alabama but did not graduate. In 1946, while a student, she married Joshua Mullins. The couple had three children, who were still young in 1959 when the marriage ended in divorce.[1][2][3]
Following her divorce, she went to work, first as an insurance agent and later as the editor of the women's sections for five weekly newspapers in the Birmingham area. That experience led to a position as a staff writer for the
Political spouse
Upon her second marriage, Maryon Pittman Allen became a political wife. As lieutenant governor, Jim Allen had to preside over the
In 1967, the same year that her husband finished his term as lieutenant governor, Maryon Allen discovered that she had
In 1968, Jim Allen won election to the United States Senate. When he took office in January 1969, Maryon accompanied him to Washington, D.C. She continued working as a journalist, writing a syndicated news column called "The Reflections of a News Hen" for newspapers in Alabama.[2][3] The column won Alabama Press Association awards as "best original column".[3]
U.S. Senate
Jim Allen died suddenly on June 1, 1978, the victim of a heart attack. One week later, on June 8, 1978, Alabama Governor George Wallace appointed Maryon Allen to succeed her husband in the Senate.[2]
In the Senate, she gained assignments to two of the committees on which her husband had served, Judiciary and
Like her husband, Maryon Allen was very conservative even by Alabama Democratic standards of the time. In October 1978, she voted for a proposal to allow
Following her appointment to the Senate, Allen decided to become a candidate in the November 1978 special election for the remaining two years of her husband's Senate term. Governor Wallace had been expected to seek the Senate seat, but he decided not to run, making Allen the favorite to win. However, she suffered serious damage to her public image after the
During her time in office, Maryon Allen was one of only two women in the Senate. The other woman Senator, Muriel Humphrey, had been appointed in January 1978 to fill the seat vacated by the death of her husband, Hubert Humphrey. Muriel Humphrey also left the Senate in November 1978, immediately after the election of a successor.[9]
Later years
After the end of her brief service in the Senate, Allen worked for a time as a columnist for The Washington Post.[1] In later years, she returned to Alabama, where she did public relations work for an antique dealer and auction house in Birmingham.[2][3]
Maryon Pittman Allen died on July 23, 2018, at the age of 92.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b United States Congress. "Maryon Pittman Allen (id: A000139)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Maryon Pittman Allen", Women in Congress (website), Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, archived from the original on January 1, 2012, retrieved March 3, 2012
- ^ a b c d e f Elbert L. Watson (February 15, 2011), "Maryon Pittman Allen", Encyclopedia of Alabama, archived from the original on March 9, 2014, retrieved March 3, 2012
- ^ "Allen's Widow is Named to Senate" (PDF), New York Times, June 9, 1978
- ^ Maryon Pittman Allen (January 2, 1968), "Shocking When You're Victim", The Tuscaloosa News
- ^ Maryon Pittman Allen (January 4, 1968), "TB Stealthy, Don't Let It Surprise You", Gadsden Times, Gadsden, Alabama
- ^ Maryon Pittman Allen (January 13, 1968), "TB Victims Prepared for New Careers", Gadsden Times, Gadsden, Alabama
- ^ "Historical Essay: Assembling, Amplifying, and Ascending", Women in Congress (essay), Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, archived from the original on December 12, 2012, retrieved March 4, 2012
- ^ "Women Representatives and Senators by Congress, 95th Congress, 1977–1979", Women in Congress, Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, archived from the original on March 23, 2012, retrieved March 4, 2012
- ^ "Former U.S. senator from Alabama, journalist Maryon Pittman Allen has died". AL.com. 2018-07-25. Retrieved 2023-10-13.