Floy Mae Clements (née Stephens November 20, 1891 – September 29, 1973) was an American politician in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

notable for being the first African American woman to serve in the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

upon her election to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

in 1958.

Biography

Floy Mae Clements was born November 20, 1891 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

to Alexander Stephens and Katie Stephens Smith. Her family moved to Chicago when she was three. Her father would open a chain of restaurants on the south side of the city. She attended

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in t ...

and graduated with a degree in social studies. While at Wilberforce, she portrayed Alma Prichard in the 1920

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

drama ''

Within Our Gates ''Within Our Gates'' is a 1920 American silent film by the director Oscar Micheaux that portrays the contemporary racial situation in the United States during the early twentieth century, the years of Jim Crow, the revival of the Ku Klux Kla ...

'', directed by

Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled ...

, and starring

Evelyn Preer Evelyn Preer (née Jarvis; July 26, 1896 – November 17, 1932), was a pioneering American stage and screen actress and jazz and blues singer of the 1910s through the early 1930s. Preer was known within the black community as "The First Lady of ...

. She also had a supporting role in Micheaux's 1920 film '' The Brute''. Clements moved back to Chicago, settling in the Grand Boulevard community. In 1927, she joined the 4th Ward Democratic Organization as a precinct captain during a time when few African Americans supported the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. She would eventually serve as the committeewoman under four different elected Ward Committeeman. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Clements was a member of the

American Red Cross Motor Corps American Red Cross Motor Corps (also known as American Red Cross motor service) was founded in 1917 by the American Red Cross (ARC). The service was composed of women and it was developed to render supplementary aid to the U.S. Army and Navy in tr ...

. Other notable civic involvement included service as Grand Traveling Deputy of the State of Illinois for the

Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW) is an African-American fraternal order modeled on the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. It was established in 1897 in the United States. In the early 21st century, it ha ...

, Worthy Matron of the Electa Chapter and Grand Officer of the Eureka Grand Chapter of the

Order of the Eastern Star The Order of the Eastern Star is a Freemasonry, Masonic List of fraternal auxiliaries and side degrees, appendant Masonic bodies, body open to both men and women. It was established in by lawyer and educator Rob Morris (Freemason), Rob Morris, ...

and service to St. Mark Methodist Church. Clements ran for the Illinois House of Representatives in the 1958 primary with the backing of 4th ward Alderman

Claude Holman Claude Holman (January 31, 1904 – June 1, 1973) was an American lawyer and politician. Holman was born in Topeka, Kansas. He went to Crane Junior College and Loyola University Chicago. Holman received his law degree from John Marshall Law ...

. She served as one of three representatives from the 22nd district with Republican

Elwood Graham Elwood Graham (1902–1978) was a state legislator in Illinois. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1957 to 1965 and again from 1967 to 1973. He was a Republican. In 1964, due to a failure of the General Assembly to agree ...

and fellow Democrat Charles F. Armstrong. During her single term in the House, Clements was assigned to the following committees; Education; Military & Veteran Affairs; Public Aid, Health Welfare and Safety; and Roads & Bridges. She was succeeded by Lycurgus Conner. Floy Clements died in

Niles, Illinois Niles is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located in the townships of Maine and Niles, directly neighboring the City of Chicago's far northwest border. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,912. The current mayor of Niles ...

and is buried at Lincoln Cemetery in Worth Township, Illinois.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Floy 1891 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians Actresses from Memphis, Tennessee African-American state legislators in Illinois African-American women in politics American silent film actresses African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Politicians from Chicago Wilberforce University alumni Women state legislators in Illinois 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people

Biography

See also

References