Bessie S. McColgin

Amelia Elizabeth Simison was born in Minneapolis, Kansas, on January 7, 1875, to Edward Harding Simison and his wife, Jane Eliza Moody.[1] Both her parents died when she was three years old, and she was raised by relatives in Earlville, Illinois[2][3] and educated at the Teachers Normal College and Illinois Wesleyan University.[4] She married Grant McColgin (1870-1955) in 1895, and they moved to Oklahoma Territory in 1901.[5] 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.[6] A few years later, the family moved to Rankin, where she and her husband established the Rankin Telephone Company in their home.[4] She also organized a Women's Christian Temperance Union chapter,[7] and was a school teacher in Rankin's first public school.[5] Her son Sterling S. McColgin also served in the Oklahoma Legislature.[8]

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][9][10] According to legend, men in her family entered her name in the election as a Republican without her knowledge.[7] She was seen as a "superior orator."[11]

While in office, McColgin was heavily involved in health and safety legislation, and introduced a bill to create a Bureau of Child Hygiene.[12] She attempted to pass legislation from Senator Lamar Looney, but few bills succeeded.[3] She was also involved in a soldiers' relief program and helped establish a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Oklahoma.[12] Although she was not re-elected for a second term, three new woman members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives were elected in 1923.[4] 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.[7]

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]

• Bessie S. McColgin at Find a Grave