Mary Lou Gray Godbold ( Gray; October 15, 1912 – April 18, 2008) was an American politician and educator. She was a member of the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, convenes at the Mississippi State Capitol ...

from 1956 to 1960, succeeding her husband after his death. After she left office, she taught education at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

and was the president of the Mississippi Education Association from 1962 to 1963.

Biography

Mary Lou Gray was born on October 15, 1912. She was the daughter of James Walter Gray, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister, and Elma Arlivia Lee. She attended Copiah–Lincoln Junior College, where she played on the girls' basketball team and was a member of the music club. Gray married Tillman Godbold, a Lincoln County schoolteacher, in July 1930. She received the

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree with distinction from Mississippi College in 1934. She later earned the Master of Arts in Education degree from the

. Godbold became an elementary schoolteacher in Oxford, Mississippi. She was elected as the president of the Mississippi Education Association's Department of Classroom Teachers in 1957 and re-elected in 1958. Tillman Godbold, who had been elected to the

in 1955, died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

resulting from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on April 6, 1957. After Mary Lou announced her candidacy in the special election to fill the vacant seat, all of the other candidates withdrew from the race and she was automatically elected, becoming the third female state senator in Mississippi's history. Godbold's first speech on the Senate floor was to defend Mississippi's requirement of a blood test for

sexually transmitted infection Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, especi ...

s or

rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

before obtaining a

marriage license A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdiction ...

. She was appointed as vice chairman of the Senate Public Health Committee in December 1957. She did not run for re-election in 1959, and was succeeded in the state senate by Homer L. Samuels. After she left office, Godbold became a member of the faculty in the department of education at the

, and remained active in the Mississippi Education Association, as the legislative chairman and member of the board of directors in 1960. In March 1961, she was elected vice president of the 12,000-member statewide MEA in a voice vote at the annual convention, and elected president the following year. Godbold retired from teaching at the University of Mississippi in 1978. She died on April 18, 2008, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godbold, Mary Lou 1912 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Copiah-Lincoln Community College alumni Mississippi College alumni Democratic Party Mississippi state senators People from Oxford, Mississippi Schoolteachers from Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni University of Mississippi faculty Women state legislators in Mississippi American women academics 21st-century American women

Biography

See also

References