Lucille Foster McMillin (September 20, 1879 – February 25, 1949) was an American political figure. She was First Lady of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903, and was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the

United States Civil Service Commission The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States. It was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships. In 1979, it was dissolved as part of ...

in 1933.

Early life

Lucille Foster was born near

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, the daughter of Capt. James Martin Foster and Ellen Long Foster. Her mother was the first president of the Louisiana Federation of Women's Clubs. Lucille Foster attended the Mary Baldwin Seminary in Virginia, with further studies in New York and Paris."Lucille Foster McMillin"
''Knoxville Focus'' (December 3, 2017).

Career

Lucille Foster McMillin campaigned with her husband

Benton McMillin Benton McMillin (September 11, 1845 – January 8, 1933) was an American politician and diplomat. He served as the 27th governor of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903 and represented Tennessee's 4th district in the United States House of Representative ...

for statewide and national office, traveling and giving speeches to women's groups, although Tennessee women did not yet have access to the ballot. When Benton McMillin was appointed ambassador to Guatemala, she lived in Guatemala; when he became ambassador to Peru, she moved with him to

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, for seven years. As her husband returned to private life in his later years, Lucille Foster McMillin remained active in political life. She was active with the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

and president of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs. In 1924, she was a Tennessee delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

."Mrs. L. M'Millin, Federal Ex-Aide" ''New York Times'' (February 26, 1949): 15. She was appointed by

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

to the

in 1933. "No woman will ever be discriminated against in the Civil Service while Mrs. McMillin is here," a colleague told ''The New York Times'' in 1941. She wrote several reports during her tenure on the commission: ''Women in the Federal Service'' (1938), addressing married women's employment, training opportunities, and the history of women in civil service, including war work; ''The First Year: A Study of Women's Participation in Federal Defense Activities'' (1941), and ''The Second Year: A Study of Women's Participation in War Activities of the Federal Government'' (1943). She also traveled and lectured as a commissioner, often speaking to women's organizations about federal employment. She resigned her federal post in 1946, citing health demands.

Personal life

Lucille Foster married Benton McMillin as his second wife in 1897. They had a daughter, Eleanor Foster McMillin (1898-1919). She was widowed in 1933, and died in 1949, aged 69 years, in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Nancy Capace
''Encyclopedia of Tennessee''
(Somerset Publishers 2000): 68–69.

References

External links

Lucille Foster McMillin's gravesite
at Find a Grave.
A photograph of the U.S. Civil Service commission. Washington, D.C., 1937
including Lucille Foster McMillin, from the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillin, Lucille Foster 1879 births 1949 deaths People from Shreveport, Louisiana First ladies and gentlemen of Tennessee