Nancy Pearl Johnson Hall (October 5, 1904 – January 1, 1991) was the first female

Arkansas State Treasurer The treasurer of Arkansas acts as the head banker for the State of Arkansas, handling deposits, withdrawals, redemptions of state warrants, and investments of state funds. The position was created in 1819 when Arkansas became a Territory (countr ...

, serving as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

from 1963 to 1981. Prior to becoming Treasurer, Hall was appointed

Secretary of State of Arkansas The Arkansas Secretary of State is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. State of Arkansas. The current Secretary of State is Republican Cole Jester who was appointed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders after John Thurston be ...

by Governor

Orval Faubus Orval Eugene Faubus ( ; January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) was an American politician who served as the List of governors of Arkansas, 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

in 1961, after the death of her husband, Crip Hall. Upon her election in 1962, she became the first woman to be elected to a constitutional office in Arkansas.

Early life

Nancy Pearl Johnson was born on October 5, 1904, in

Prescott, Arkansas Prescott is a city in and the county seat of Nevada County, Arkansas, United States. The community had a population of 3,296 at the 2010 census. Prescott is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. Located 100 miles southwest of Little ...

, to George Sim Johnson and Minnie Bryan Johnson. From the age of 6 she lived in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, and attended Little Rock Public Schools. Her early career included work as staff for the Arkansas Legislative Council and

Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands The Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands is an executive position and constitutional officer within the Arkansas government which has been an elective post since 1874. Land Commissioners are elected to four year terms. The current state Land Commi ...

. Johnson married Claris G. "Crip" Hall on October 5, 1929, and had one daughter. When Crip became Arkansas Secretary of State in 1936 Nancy Hall joined his staff.

Secretary of State

When Crip died in 1961, Governor

appointed Nancy to serve the remained of his term, in a practice sometimes referred to as

widow's succession Widow's succession was a political practice prominent in some countries in the early part of the 20th century, by which a politician who died in office was directly succeeded by his widow, either through election or direct appointment to the seat ...

. Upon her appointment, Hall became the first woman to hold constitutional office in Arkansas. As Secretary of State, Hall oversaw maintenance of the Arkansas State Capitol Building, and attracted attention by arguing that a state

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

service on the Capitol grounds should be cancelled rather than

desegregated Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

. Arkansas law prohibited appointees to vacant positions from running for the same office in the subsequent election, and Hall instead sought election as State Treasurer.

State Treasurer

Hall was elected State Treasurer in 1962, and became the first woman elected to constitutional office in Arkansas, and the second woman to win a statewide election after Senator

Hattie Caraway Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway (February 1, 1878 – December 21, 1950) was an American politician who was United States Senator from Arkansas from 1931 to 1945. She was the first woman elected to the Senate, the first woman to serve a full term as ...

. As Treasurer, Hall oversaw the automation and computerization of state accounting procedures.

Retirement

Hall did not run for reelection in 1980. After serving for 18 years and 9 terms, Hall left office in 1981 and was succeeded by

Jimmie Lou Fisher Jimmie Lou Fisher (née Cooper; December 31, 1941 – July 11, 2022) was an American politician from Arkansas. A Democrat, she was the longest serving State Treasurer in Arkansas history. Early life and career Jimmie Lou Cooper was born in ...

. Hall died on January 1, 1991, at age 86.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Nancy Johnson 1904 births Arkansas Democrats People from Nevada County, Arkansas People from Prescott, Arkansas Secretaries of state of Arkansas State treasurers of Arkansas Women in Arkansas politics 1991 deaths 20th-century Arkansas politicians 20th-century American women politicians