Mary Cordelia Montgomery Booze (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Mary Cordelia Montgomery; March 1878 – May 17, 1955) was an American political organizer, teacher, businessperson, and activist. The daughter of former

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, she was one of the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

women to sit on the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

. From 1924 until her death, she was the national committeewoman for her native state of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Biography

Mary Cordelia Montgomery was born in 1878 at Brierfield Plantation to

Isaiah Thornton Montgomery Isaiah Thornton Montgomery (May 21, 1847 – March 5, 1924) was an American community leader, politician, and the founder of Mound Bayou, Mississippi, an all-black community. He was a Republican delegate to the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional ...

and Martha Robb Montgomery, former slaves of

Joseph Emory Davis Joseph Emory Davis (10 December 1784 – 18 September 1870) was an American lawyer who became one of the wealthiest planters in Mississippi in the antebellum era; he owned thousands of acres of land and was among the nine men in Mississippi who o ...

, brother of

Confederate President The president of the Confederate States was the head of state and head of government of the unrecognized breakaway Confederate States. The president was the chief executive of the federal government and commander-in-chief of the Confederate Ar ...

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

. She was named for her maternal grandmother Mary Virginia Lewis Montgomery, wife of inventor Benjamin Montgomery. Montgomery grew up in the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

. In 1924, Booze became a member of the Republican National Committee; she was one of the first African-American women to do so along with Mary Miller Williams of Georgia. She became a subject of innuendo in fierce state politics during the 1928 presidential campaign that year. On August 10, 1927, Mary and her husband, Eugene P. Booze were arrested and charged with the murder of her father, Isaiah Montgomery. Montgomery who had founded

Mound Bayou, Mississippi Mound Bayou is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,533 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 2,102 in 2000. It was founded as an independent black community in ...

, and died in 1924. When the couple was charged, it was believed Montgomery had been murdered by poisoning, although at the time of his death it was thought his passing was due to natural causes. Supporters of the couple were immediately skeptical of the charges and "further expressed the opinion that Mr. and Mrs. Booze are the victims of a frame-up designed to reflect discredit upon Mrs. Booze as National Republican Committee-woman".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booze, Mary Cordelia Montgomery 1878 births 1955 deaths Straight University alumni African-American people in Mississippi politics Women in Mississippi politics Mississippi Republicans Activists for African-American civil rights American civil rights activists People from Mound Bayou, Mississippi Activists from New York City Republican National Committee members 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians African-American activists 20th-century African-American politicians Black conservatism in the United States

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...