Anna "Annie" Simms Banks (1862–1923) was an American educator and political figure born in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

. On March 3, 1920, Anna became the first African-American female elected as a delegate at the 7th Congressional District Republican Convention in Kentucky, a time when women in Kentucky could vote for President but did not have full suffrage. Banks was appointed a member of the Rules Committee. She taught in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and later died in Winchester, Kentucky.

Family life

Banks was born in

Brandenburg, Kentucky Brandenburg is a home rule-class city on the Ohio River in Meade County, Kentucky, in the United States. The city is southwest of Louisville. It is the seat of its county. The population was 2,643 at the 2010 census. History Brandenburg w ...

, to mother Isabelle, a domestic servant, and father Marquis Simms, a barber She was a schoolteacher in Louisville and on July 10, 1906, married

William Webb Banks William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

a correspondent for both white and African-American newspapers who was politically active about the issue of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

for African Americans.

Political life

Anna traveled to New York City and Washington D.C. in 1913 while accompanying her husband during his duties as Kentucky Commissioner to the Emancipation Exposition and was exposed to contemporary political culture. She later helped organize African-American hospital workers in Winchester. After being elected as a delegate at the 7th Congressional District Republican Convention in Kentucky, Simms announced: "We are just beginning to open our eyes in politics, but before long we are going to make ourselves felt, and you can depend on Annie Simms Banks, of Winchester, to do her part for the grand old party". Banks died three years later of pneumonia in Winchester, Kentucky, and her obituary called her a "prominent race leader". Her husband died two years later and was buried next to her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Anna Simms African-American people in Kentucky politics Kentucky Republicans Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky People from Winchester, Kentucky Women in Kentucky politics American suffragists American political activists 1862 births 1923 deaths African-American women in politics American political women Activists from Kentucky African-American suffragists 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women