Contents
- Descriptive Summary
- Biographical note
- Scope and Contents note
- Processing Information note
- Related Archival Materials note
- Indexed Terms
Collection Access
Margaret Smith Papers, Addendum
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Margaret Smith Papers, Addendum
- Identifier
- BMRC.CSU.SMITH521
- Repository
- Chicago State University, Archives and Special Collections
- Language
- English
- Size
- 5.21 Linear feet
- Dates
- 1956-2005
- Creator
- Smith, Margaret, 1923-2005
Biographical note
Margaret Smith served in the Illinois State Legislature from 1981 until 2002. She was known as a staunch defender of the rights of women, children, the elderly, the poor, and the incarcerated.
Smith was born September 25, 1922 in Tennessee. She attended DuSable High School in Chicago and she studied commerce at Tennessee State University. Margaret Smith’s early career was spent in missionary work and administrative service in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. She was also active in the Metropolitan Business and Professional Women, International.
In 1981 Smith was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and following the retirement of her husband she sought and won his Senate seat in 1983. In the Senate she chaired the Public Health, Welfare, and Corrections Committee and was vice-chair of the Labor and Commerce Committee. She led an effort in the early 1990s to introduce universal health care in the state of Illinois. Margaret Smith retired in 2002 and died at her home in Chicago in 2005.
Scope and Contents note
The papers include both official legislative materials and personal items, including extensive amounts of campaign and election materials. Also heavily represented are items from her work in the Progressive National Baptist Convention and other religious and church groups.
Processing Information note
This collection was surveyed as part of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium's Survey Initiative on 2009 September 29 by Lisa Calahan and Bergis Jules.