Background
Smith was born to John William and Cecelia Marion Thurman in Buchanan County, Missouri.
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Mellcene Thurman Smith
Edit ProfileEducation
Smith intended to have a career on-stage as a lyric soprano and studied voice.
Career
She went to school in Saint Joseph and Kansas City. She volunteered for the Red Cross, worked to establish local libraries, and supported prohibition and women"s suffrage. In 1920, Smith was a delegate to the Democratic state convention.
Following pressure from the Saint Louis League of Women Voters, she ran unopposed in the 1922 Democratic primary.
Despite strong Republican opposition, she was elected in November 1922 on the Clean Election League ticket for the Second District of Saint Louis County. She was aided in her electoral efforts by support from the League of Women Voters.
She was one of the first two women elected to the Missouri General Assembly along with Sarah Lucille Turner, although Smith joked that she was first because representatives were sworn in by alphabetical order. Upon her election, Smith described her intent while in Jefferson City: "I do not intend to drape my feet over the top of a desk in the Capitol building.
And I am determined not to spatter the walls of the place with tobacco juice." Her husband was unimpressed with her new workplace, saying, when he visited her there: "And this is what you left your home for?"
She sponsored eleven bills to improve Saint Louis County government, six of which became laws, including one mandating voter registration in Saint Louis County.
She served on the Banks and Banking, Children"s Code, and Eleemosynary Committees, and also chaired the Committee on State Libraries. Although she sought reelection in 1924, Smith was defeated. She returned to her civic involvement and pursued her genealogy hobby.
She served as president of the Saint Louis Law Printing Company following her husband"s death in 1954.
She died in Saint Louis of cancer.
Membership
Smith was also an active member of the Christian Church and related organizations.
