Rosetta A. Ferguson (née Sexton; July 1, 1920November 18, 2015) was a politician in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, USA.

Early life

Ferguson was born on July 1, 1920, in

Florence, Mississippi Florence is a city in Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 4,141. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a to ...

, to parents Gaberil Sexton and Earnie Sexton.

Education

Ferguson attended public schools in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. She later attended

Detroit Institute of Technology The Detroit Institute of Technology was a private four-year technical college in Detroit, Michigan that closed operations in 1981. History First called the Association Institute, the private school was founded in 1891 as a YMCA evening school ...

Career

In 1961, Ferguson was a candidate in the primary for the position of delegate to Michigan state constitutional convention from Wayne County 5th district. On November 4, 1964, she was elected to the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 ...

where she represented the 9th district from January 13, 1965, to 1972. On November 7, 1972, she was again elected to the Michigan house of representatives where she represented the 20th district from January 10, 1973, to 1978. She advocated for more coverage of ethnic history in textbooks. She was known for her opposition to drugs, especially

marijuana legalization The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...

, and abortion. In an incident in 1977, on the house floor, Ferguson threw a glass ashtray at state representative

Perry Bullard Winston Perry Bullard (September 2, 1942 – October 15, 1998), was a Democratic politician and lawyer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Bullard was born in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Harvard University. After serving in the United States Navy during t ...

, which hit him in the head.

Personal life

Ferguson married in 1935 and had four children. She was a member of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

. Ferguson was

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 ...

Death

Ferguson died on November 18, 2015, and was buried in Florence, Mississippi.

References

1920 births 2015 deaths Burials in Mississippi People from Florence, Mississippi Baptists from Michigan Baptists from Mississippi American anti-abortion activists Detroit Institute of Technology alumni African-American women in politics African-American state legislators in Michigan Women state legislators in Michigan Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Baptists 20th-century Michigan politicians {{Michigan-politician-stub