Zeola Hershey Misener

Mary Zeola Hershey Misener (October 22, 1878 – October 30, 1966) was an Indiana suffragist and politician. She was the first woman elected to state legislature from her district and one of the first in the state.

Zeola Hershey Misener
Born
Mary Zeola Hershey

(1878-10-22)October 22, 1878
West Salem, Ohio
DiedOctober 30, 1966(1966-10-30) (aged 88)
St. Petersburg, Florida
OccupationPolitician, suffragist
RelativesDorothy Jurney (daughter)

Early life

Mary Zeola Hershey was born October 22, 1878 in West Salem, Ohio[1] to John and Carrie Stephenson Hershey.[2] She attended the United Brethren College in Westerville, Ohio and King's School of Oratory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2]

Political career

Hershey Misener was a feminist[3] and suffragist[4] who helped organize Indiana's League of Women Voters and for several years served as vice-president.[2] She spoke at the League's 1926 regional convention.[5]

She was elected to the Indiana General Assembly in 1928, the first woman to be elected from her district[6] and one of the first in the state.[3][7] She was one of three women in the Indiana State House in the 1928—1930 term.[4][8] Charles Roll in his 1931 history of Indiana called her "one of the prominent Republican women of the state."[2]

While in the legislature, Hershey Misener "was a leader in several stirring political battles."[9]

Hershey Misener first achieved notoriety in March 1929 when, as a freshman member of the General Assembly, she sponsored Indiana's first voter registration law[3] and blocked a Senate effort to kill it.[9] She appeared uninvited on the floor of the Indiana Senate during a "midnight session" while some senators were claiming the governor had requested they recall the bill.[10] She asked on whose authority members of the Senate had stated that the governor had asked for reconsideration of the bill, saying, "I have just come from the governor's office, and I am informed that he has not asked this move." Then-Lieutenant Governor Edgar D. Bush ruled her out of order. She said, "That's all right. I've said everything I want to say anyhow," and left the floor to applause.[11][12] After her departure, when the lieutenant governor refused to address her comments, a group of senators staged a walkout. When the Senate requested the General Assembly to recall the bill, Hershey Misener told the General Assembly, "You can kill this bill if you want to, but if you do the Republican party will be to blame."[13]

Personal life

Hershey Misener married Michigan City News publisher Herbert Roy Misener in Chicago on February 6, 1906.[2] They had two children, Dorothy Louise, who became an influential newspaperwoman, and Richard Hershey, who founded a major marine construction firm in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Hershey Misener lived with her husband and family in Michigan City, Indiana;[2]she and her husband later moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. She was widowed in 1945.[14] She died October 30, 1966 in St. Petersburg[1] at age 88 and is buried in Greenwood cemetery in La Porte County, Indiana.[15]

References
  1. "Misener Data H Listing". Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  2. Roll, Charles (1931). INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3. Lewis Publishing Company. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  3. Kimberly Wilmot Voss, University of Central Florida (April 5, 2017). Women Politicking Politely: Advancing Feminism in the 1960s and 1970s. Lexington Books. pp. 14–. ISBN 978-1-4985-2230-4.
  4. Harper, Kimberly. "Dorothy Misener Jurney (1909–2002)". State Historical Society of Missouri. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  5. "Women Voters Hear Indianian: Mrs. H.R. Misener tells of work in building up membership". The Star Press. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  6. "State Representatives from LaPorte County". Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  7. "12 Women Seeking Legislative and Congress Seats". Muncie Evening Press. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  8. "Women as Lawmakers". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  9. "Mrs. Zeola Hershey Misener and Husband Return from Study Trip to Cuba". The Miami News. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  10. "Registration Bill Will Be Introduced". Muncie Evening Press. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  11. "Assembly Closes in Hostile Mood". Journal and Courier. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  12. "Assembly Ends Session Fighting on Registration". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  13. "Assembly Ends in Hostile Mood (part 2)". Journal & Courier. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  14. "H R Misener, Retired Publisher, is Dead". Indianapolis News. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  15. "Greenwood Cemetery 'Section O'". Retrieved January 17, 2019.
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