The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title and office of Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. In addition to passing a budget for state government plus other legislation,the General Assembly appoints three state officers specified by the state constitution. It is also the initiating body in any process to amend the state's constitution.
The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members,each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time,and many state senators have full-time jobs during the rest of the year. During the current term,the Senate contains twenty-nine Republicans and six Democrats.
John Gray Lucas was a lawyer and a state legislator in Arkansas during the early 20th century. He was appointed Assistant U.S. attorney in Cook County in 1934. Born in Marshall,Texas,in 1864,he eventually moved to Pine Bluff,Arkansas. He graduated from Branch Normal College of Arkansas Industrial University. He then got his law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1887,graduating with honors as the only African-American student in his class. He moved to Chicago.
James T. White was a Baptist minister and state legislator from Helena and Little Rock,Arkansas. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives and later the Arkansas Senate in the late 1860s and early 1870s. He was also a member of the Arkansas constitutional conventions in 1868 and 1874. He edited the Baptist newspaper,The Arkansas Review. He was an African American and a Republican. In 1868 he was among the first six African Americans to serve in the Arkansas House.
The Ninety-First Arkansas General Assembly was the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2017 and 2018. In this General Assembly,the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate,23 senators were Republicans,11 were Democrats,and one position was vacant until April. In the House,69 representatives were Republicans,30 were Democrats,and one was independent.
Gabriel Acevero is a Trinidadian–American organizer,activist and politician representing Maryland's 39th House district. On November 6,2018,Acevero finished in first place with 31% of the vote and became the first openly gay Afro-Latino,and one of the youngest people,elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. Acevero is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Ninety-Second Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2019 and 2020. In this General Assembly,the Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate,26 senators were Republicans and 9 were Democrats. In the House,76 representatives were Republicans,24 were Democrats. A special session was called in March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nathan E. Edwards was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Chicot County as a Republican for the 1893 session. He was one of at least four African Americans in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1893 along with George W. Bell in the state senate. He and other Arkansas legislators were photographed in 1893.
John H. Carr was a farmer and member of the Arkansas Legislature in 1891. He represented Phillips County,Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1891.
Howard McKay was a state representative in Arkansas. He represented Jefferson County,Arkansas,and was one of at least four African Americans in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1893. George W. Bell was serving in the state senate. He and other Arkansas legislators were photographed in 1893.
J. T. Rodgers was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1893. He was a white Democrat and served with two African Americans who also represented Jefferson County,Arkansas in the House that year,P. H. Booth and Howard McKay.
Women's suffrage had early champions among men in Arkansas. Miles Ledford Langley of Arkadelphia,Arkansas proposed a women's suffrage clause during the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention. Educator,James Mitchell wanted to see a world where his daughters had equal rights. The first woman's suffrage group in Arkansas was organized by Lizzie Dorman Fyler in 1881. A second women's suffrage organization was formed by Clara McDiarmid in 1888. McDiarmid was very influential on women's suffrage work in the last few decades of the nineteenth century. When she died in 1899,suffrage work slowed down,but did not all-together end. Both Bernie Babcock and Jean Vernor Jennings continued to work behind the scenes. In the 1910s,women's suffrage work began to increase again. socialist women,like Freda Hogan were very involved in women's suffrage causes. Other social activists,like Minnie Rutherford Fuller became involved in the Political Equality League (PEL) founded in 1911 by Jennings. Another statewide suffrage group,also known as the Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was organized in 1914. AWSA decided to work towards helping women vote in the important primary elections in the state. The first woman to address the Arkansas General Assembly was suffragist Florence Brown Cotnam who spoke in favor of a women's suffrage amendment on February 5,1915. While that amendment was not completely successful,Cotnam was able to persuade the Arkansas governor to hold a special legislative session in 1917. That year Arkansas women won the right to vote in primary elections. In May 1918,between 40,000 and 50,000 white women voted in the primaries. African American voters were restricted from voting in primaries in the state. Further efforts to amend the state constitution took place in 1918,but were also unsuccessful. When the Nineteenth Amendment passed the United States Congress,Arkansas held another special legislative session in July 1919. The amendment was ratified on July 28 and Arkansas became the twelfth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Isaac George Bailey was an educator,Baptist minister,and member of the Arkansas legislature. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1885,representing Desha County. His photograph was taken as one of the 1885 Arkansas House members. The caption says he was a Republican and Tillar Station was his post office.
Carl R. Polk was a farmer,state legislator,and judge in Arkansas. He was born a slave in Arkansas. He represented Jefferson County,Arkansas,in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1871 and 1881.
Anderson Ebberson was an American politician.
James E. Bish was a state legislator in Illinois. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897. He wrote Past,Present,and the Future of the Negro.
Ulysses Simpson Bratton was an American lawyer and politician whose work included representation of farmworker labor unions and advocacy for African Americans in peonage. He served two terms on the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Thomas R. Kersh was a state legislator in Arkansas. A Republican,he represented Lincoln County,Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1885 and 1887. According to the captioning from his 1885 House photograph he was 38 years old,was a native of South Carolina,had lived in Arkansas for 18 years,was a Republican,worked a Baptist Minister,and his post office was in Varner's Station.
Joseph B. Brooks was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Lafayette County,Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1885. According to the captioning from an 1885 photograph of Arkansas representatives he was born in Missouri,was a Baptist minister,and his post office was in Lewisville,Arkansas. It states he was 45 in 1885 and was a Republican.
Patrick T. Price was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Lee County,Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1877 as a Republican. His fellow Lee County representative was Crockett Brown.
