Lucille Foster McMillin

Lucille Foster McMillin (September 20, 1879 – February 25, 1949) was an American political figure. She was First Lady of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903, and was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission in 1933.

Lucille Foster McMillin, from a 1902 publication.

Early life

Lucille Foster was born near Shreveport, Louisiana, the daughter of Capt. James Martin Foster and Ellen Long Foster.[1] Her mother was the first president of the Louisiana Federation of Women's Clubs. Lucille Foster attended the Mary Baldwin Seminary in Virginia, with further studies in New York and Paris.[2][3]

Career

Lucille Foster McMillin campaigned with her husband Benton McMillin for statewide and national office, traveling and giving speeches to women's groups, although Tennessee women did not yet have access to the ballot. When Benton McMillin was appointed ambassador to Guatemala, she lived in Guatemala; when he became ambassador to Peru, she moved with him to Lima, Peru, for seven years. As her husband returned to private life in his later years, Lucille Foster McMillin remained active in political life. She was active with the League of Women Voters and president of the Tennessee Federation of Women's Clubs. In 1924, she was a Tennessee delegate to the Democratic National Convention.[4]

She was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission in 1933. "No woman will ever be discriminated against in the Civil Service while Mrs. McMillin is here," a colleague told The New York Times in 1941.[5] She wrote several reports during her tenure on the commission: Women in the Federal Service (1938), addressing married women's employment, training opportunities, and the history of women in civil service, including war work;[6] The First Year: A Study of Women's Participation in Federal Defense Activities (1941), and The Second Year: A Study of Women's Participation in War Activities of the Federal Government (1943).[7][8] She also traveled and lectured as a commissioner, often speaking to women's organizations about federal employment.[9][10]

She resigned her federal post in 1946, citing health demands.[11]

Personal life

Lucille Foster married Benton McMillin as his second wife in 1897. They had a daughter, Eleanor Foster McMillin (1898-1919). She was widowed in 1933, and died in 1949, aged 69 years, in Washington, D.C.[12][4]

References
  1. Daughters of the American Revolution, Lineage Book (1908): 214.
  2. "Lucille Foster McMillin" Knoxville Focus (December 3, 2017).
  3. Annie Somers Gilchrist, Some Representative Women of Tennessee (McQuiddy Publishing 1902): 1-6.
  4. "Mrs. L. M'Millin, Federal Ex-Aide" New York Times (February 26, 1949): 15. via ProQuest
  5. Adelaide Handy, "Women Gain Government Posts Through Civil Service Tests" New York Times (February 23, 1941): D4. via ProQuest
  6. Lucille Foster McMillin, Women in the Federal Service (U. S. Government Printing Office, 1941).
  7. Robert Lopresti, When Women Didn't Count: The Chronic Mismeasure and Marginalization of American Women in Federal Statistics (ABC Clio 2017): 307. ISBN 9781440843693
  8. "Women Work Hard in Defense Effort" New York Times (November 27, 1941): 26. via ProQuest
  9. "Mrs. Lucille Foster McMillin to be Distinguished Guest Here" Atlanta Constitution (September 14, 1933): 11. via Newspapers.com
  10. "Civil Service Commissioner Talks on Federal Service" St. Louis Post-Dispatch (October 26, 1934): 22. via Newspapers.com
  11. "Civil Service Aide Quits; Truman Regrets Resignation of Mrs. Lucille McMillin" New York Times (August 10, 1946): 15. via ProQuest
  12. Nancy Capace, Encyclopedia of Tennessee (Somerset Publishers 2000): 68-69. ISBN 9780403093496
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