Governor William J. Fields Preceded by Edward Blan Dishman Preceded by Fred A.Vaughn Succeeded by Elam Huddleston | Succeeded by Ella Lewis Name Emma Cromwell Governor Flem D. Sampson Education University of Michigan | |
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Died July 19, 1952, Frankfort, Kentucky, United States Books Citizenship: A Manual for Voters, Woman in Politics Similar People J C W Beckham, George M Bibb, Edwin P Morrow, Luke P Blackburn, John Adair | ||
Emma Guy Cromwell (September 28, 1865 – July 19, 1952) was a suffragist, women's rights activist, and early female Democratic Party politician from Kentucky in the United States. Cromwell became the first woman to hold a statewide office in Kentucky when she was elected state librarian in 1896 by a vote of the Kentucky State Senate. In 1923, Cromwell was elected Secretary of State of Kentucky in an elections against two other females. She went on to be elected Kentucky State Treasurer in 1927, and because of her conservative handling of state money, which was heavily criticized at the time, Kentucky's state funds remained secure during the Great Depression.
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Early life and education
Emma Guy, the daughter of Ashley and Alice (Quisenberry) Guy, was born on September 28, 1865, in Simpson County, Kentucky (or Allen County). She had one sister and two brothers.
Emma attended Howard Female College at Gallatin in Sumner County, Tennessee. Later she studied parliamentary procedures at the University of Michigan.
Emma married Frankfort, Kentucky attorney William F. Cromwell on May 30, 1897 in a church ceremony in Bowling Green, Kentucky. William Cromwell was Chief Clerk of the prior State Legislative session. They had one son William Foree Cromwell. Her husband died in 1909.
Political career
In 1896, Guy was appointed by the Kentucky General Assembly for the position of State Librarian making her the first female to hold a position in a Kentucky State Office. She made a career in State government and held a variety of positions over the years. From 1916 to 1918 she was enrolling clerk for the Kentucky House of Representatives. In 1922 she was parliamentarian for the Kentucky House and Senate.
In 1918 Cromwell published Cromwell's Compendium of Parliamentary Law. In 1939, Cromwell published her autobiography, Woman in Politics.
In 1923, Cromwell was elected Kentucky Secretary of State in an elections against two other females. She held the office from January 1, 1924 until January 1, 1928. Cromwell discovered the records of previous administrations in the Capitol basement, and retrieved and categorized them.
Cromwell was the first woman to serve as acting governor when the two other officials in the line of succession were absent from Kentucky while attending the Democratic National Convention.
Cromwell went on to be elected Kentucky State Treasurer in 1927, and because of her conservative handling of state money, which was heavily criticized at the time, Kentucky 's state funds remained secure during the Great Depression.
Cromwell was appointed Kentucky State Park Director in 1932.
In 1937 she was named State Librarian and Director of Archives, and arranged for the return of the Kentucky state constitution from the University of Chicago Archives.
Later life and death
Cromwell continued to be active in Democratic Party politics until she fell and broke a hip in 1949. Cromwell died on July 19, 1952 of medical complications following a stroke. She is buried in the Frankfort Cemetery, in Frankfort Kentucky.
Legacy
Cromwell was one of seventeen women given a place of honor in the Kentucky State Capital when their portraits were placed in a permanent display called "Kentucky Women Remembered".
"Emma's List", a new Political Action Committee created in 1993 to raise funds for female's campaigning for a Kentucky State office, was named in honor of Emma Cromwell.