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Amelia Elizabeth Simison McColgin (January 7, 1875 – July 9, 1972), known as Bessie McColgin, was an American businesswoman and politician. A native of Kansas, she moved to western Oklahoma Territory in 1901. In 1920, she was the first woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
Bessie McColgin | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives | |
| In office 1920–1923 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Amelia Elizabeth Simison January 7, 1875 Minneapolis, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | July 9, 1972 (aged 97) Sayre, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Spouse | Grant McColgin (m. 1895) |
| Children | 10, including Sterling S. McColgin (son) |
Amelia Elizabeth Simison was born in Minneapolis, Kansas, on January 7, 1875, to Edward Harding Simison and his wife, Jane Eliza Moody.[1] Orphaned when she was three years old, she was raised by relatives in Earlville, Illinois[2] and educated at the Teachers Normal College and Illinois Wesleyan University.[3] She married Grant McColgin (1870-1955) in 1895, and they moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1901.[4] The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture states that her husband bought a relinquishment in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, in 1903.[lower-alpha 1] Bessie McColgin became a school teacher and the postmistress of the Ridgeton Post Office.[5] A few years later, the family moved to Rankin, where she and her husband established the Rankin Telephone Company in their home.[3] She organized a Women's Christian Temperance Union chapter,[6] and was a school teacher in Rankin's first public school.[4] One of her sons, Sterling S. McColgin, also served in the Oklahoma Legislature.[7]
While pregnant with her 10th child, McColgin became the first woman elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives. She served in the legislature in 1921 and 1922.[2][8][9] According to legend, men in her family entered her name in the election as a Republican without her knowledge.[6] She was seen as a "superior orator."[10]
While in office, McColgin was heavily involved in health and safety legislation, and introduced a bill to create a Bureau of Child Hygiene.[citation needed] She attempted to pass legislation from Senator Lamar Looney, but few bills succeeded. She was also involved in a soldiers' relief program and helped establish a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Oklahoma.[citation needed]
Although she was not re-elected for a second term, three new woman members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives were elected in 1923.[3] On the last day of her term, McColgin was presented with a wristwatch from her male colleagues to commemorate her service, which they jokingly stated was because "women legislators need to be watched".[1] Nearly 40 years after her term ended, McColgin's son, Sterling, was elected to the same seat she had filled.[6]
McColgin died at the age of 97 in Sayre, Oklahoma, on July 9, 1972.[1] She was posthumously inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.[2]
- Presumably this meant that he acquired land that had been claimed, then abandoned by a previous settler. Roger Mills County, Oklahoma was created from the short-lived Day County, Oklahoma Territory, after Oklahoma became a state in 1907.
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