Women in Kentucky - Public Service
Thelma Stovall: Thelma Stovall’s working life began at the age of fifteen, when she took a job sweeping tobacco at Brown and Williamson Tobacco Co. By the end of her career she had served three terms as a state representative, three terms as secretary of state, and served as Kentucky’s first woman Lt. Governor.
In an article written in tribute to Thelma Stovall on February 12, 1994, Judith Egertonwrote in the Courier Journal: “Many believe that Thelma Stovall represented politics at its best. She was honest and direct. Her constituents weren’t folks who travel in limousines, head corporations and organize tasteful fundraisers. They were tobacco workers, machinists, clerks, and janitors. She was the champion of labor unions and working people.”
Thelma Stovall was also a champion for the rights of women. One action that highlights her passion for gender equity is her veto of a resolution passed by the General Assembly which rescinded Kentucky’s 1972 ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Governor Carroll’s absence from the state made her the acting governor, thereby granting her the power to take this action. However, the legislature overrode her veto.
(Read Lt. Governor Stovall’s veto text and her statements about it.)
Thelma Stovall’s career as an elected official ended after an unsuccessful bid for Governor. She lost to Governor John Y. Brown in 1979, the only loss of her career. She was appointed by Governor Brown as the Commissioner of Labor, which proved to be the last public office she held.
The state of Kentucky has recognized her achievements in several ways, including a plaque commemorating her achievements placed in the Capitol in 1982. After her death in 1994, she became one of the few to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
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