Mellcene Smith

One of the first women elected to
the Missouri House of Representatives —

ONE OF THE FIRST TWO WOMEN elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, Democrat Mellcene Smith represented the second district of St. Louis in the 52nd General Assembly following the election in 1922.

Smith served as a Red Cross volunteer, worked in a movement to establish local libraries and become an ardent supporter of Prohibition. She also worked for woman suffrage. 

While in the House of Representatives, Smith sponsored 11 bills. Six of them became laws, including House Bill 1, which made registration mandatory for voters in St. Louis County. She chaired the Committee on State Libraries and served on the Banks and Banking, the Children’s Code, and the Eleemosynary Institutions Committees.