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Thelma Stovall (Thelma Loyace Hawkins) was born on 1 April, 1919 in Munfordville, Kentucky, U.S., is an American politician. Discover Thelma Stovall's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is she in this year and how she spends money? Also learn how she earned most of networth at the age of 74 years old?

Popular As Thelma Loyace Hawkins
Occupation Politician, labor and civil rights activist
Age 74 years old
Zodiac Sign Aries
Born 1 April 1919
Birthday 1 April
Birthplace Munfordville, Kentucky, U.S.
Date of death 4 February, 1994
Died Place Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 1 April. She is a member of famous politician with the age 74 years old group.

Thelma Stovall Height, Weight & Measurements

At 74 years old, Thelma Stovall height not available right now. We will update Thelma Stovall's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
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Who Is Thelma Stovall's Husband?

Her husband is Lonnie Raymond Stovall

Family
Parents Addie Mae (Goodman) and Samuel Dewey Hawkins
Husband Lonnie Raymond Stovall
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Thelma Stovall Net Worth

Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Thelma Stovall worth at the age of 74 years old? Thelma Stovall’s income source is mostly from being a successful politician. She is from United States. We have estimated Thelma Stovall's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income politician

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Timeline

1919

Thelma Loyace Stovall (née Hawkins; April 1, 1919 – February 4, 1994) was a pioneering American politician in the state of Kentucky.

Thelma Loyace Hawkins was born in Munfordville, Kentucky on April 1, 1919.

Her parents, Samuel Dewey Hawkins and Addie Mae Goodman Hawkins, divorced when she was eight years old and she moved with her mother and sister Edith to Louisville.

She grew up around political activities: as a child she would hand out papers for her mother, who had become a precinct official in Louisville.

The family lived an austere, working class life, a fact Stovall never resented: "I don't think it hurt to do without," she said.

At the age of 15, she started working for the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation to support her family during the Great Depression.

She joined the Tobacco Workers International Union and became secretary of her local, TWIU 185.

She kept that position for 11 years, and remained a stout supporter of labor unions throughout her later political career.

1936

While working at the tobacco company, she met L. Raymond Stovall and the couple married in September 1936, when he was 18 and she was 17.

She graduated from Louisville Girls' High School, then studied law at LaSalle Extension University in Chicago and attended summer school at the University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University.

1947

Stovall won 47,633 votes, taking fifth place behind Brown's 165,188 votes; 139,713 for Harvey I. Sloane, the mayor of Louisville; 131,530 for former state representative Terry McBrayer; and 68,577 for 1st District Congressman Carroll Hubbard.

Stovall did finish ahead of four minor candidates in the primary, but it would be her last race and the only loss of her career.

1949

In 1949, she won election as state representative for Louisville and served three consecutive terms.

Over the next two decades, Stovall was elected Kentucky State Treasurer twice and Secretary of State of Kentucky three times.

Stovall became Louisville's first female state representative: she won election to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1949 and was re-elected twice.

1952

She joined the Young Democrats of Kentucky and served as a national committee member (1952 to 1956) and then as the group's first woman president (1956 to 1958).

1955

When the popular Democratic politician Happy Chandler ran for Governor in 1955, he tried to persuade Stovall to be on his ticket as Secretary of State of Kentucky.

After she took too long thinking about it, Chandler simply announced her candidacy on his own.

With no ill will, Stovall went along with the plan, although she thought she would never win.

1956

Ultimately, Stovall was elected Secretary of State three times, serving four-year terms beginning in 1956, 1964, and 1972.

1959

In 1959, Stovall was secretary of state, the third-ranking office in Kentucky, when she discovered that the governor and lieutenant governor were both out of state.

As the legal acting governor, she pardoned three prisoners, including a robber who had been given a life sentence for stealing $28.

1960

She also served two four-year terms as State Treasurer, beginning in 1960 and 1968.

1970

By the early 1970s, she was a figure of some national stature: the Cincinnati Enquirer described her as "one of the most knowledgeable women in America regarding state government" and noted that she was in high demand for speaking engagements around the country.

She also candidly discussed her plans for higher office.

1975

She capped her career as the 47th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky (1975–1979) in the administration of her fellow Democrat, Governor Julian Carroll.

She was the first woman to hold the office.

Stovall was known for her assertive style.

Several times in her career, when she found herself in the position of acting governor, she was unafraid of exercising that power – she issued gubernatorial pardons, called the Kentucky General Assembly into session to consider bills, and, most famously, issued an executive injunction against the Assembly's attempt to repeal Kentucky's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Throughout her career, Stovall was an ardent advocate of labor and women's rights.

In 1975, Stovall was the first woman nominated for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky by either major political party.

Stovall defeated the Republican nominee Shirley W. Palmer-Ball, with 430,011 votes (54.6%) to Palmer-Ball's 357,744 votes (45.4%).

As lieutenant governor, Stovall was not reluctant to invoke her powers as acting governor when Governor Julian Carroll left the state.

During one of Carroll's absences, Stovall called the Kentucky General Assembly into special session to reduce taxation.

Two bills were swiftly passed: one placed a statewide cap on property taxes while the other removed a 5% state tax on utility bills.

1977

In an oral history interview in 1977, Stovall gave her plainspoken view of the ERA: "It's ridiculous after 200 years that women are still second class citizens. No – black men were allowed to vote fifty years before women could vote. As long there is still some statutes that say there are certain things that a woman can not do, we are still second class citizens."

After her veto the following year, she resolutely defended her action, declaring: "Every elective official is faced sooner or later with the prospect of acting for political expediency, acting from conscience and law, or avoiding the issue by not acting at all. When the people vote to elect their leaders, they expect them to act and act decisively."

1978

Her most famous intercession as acting governor came in March 1978 when, with Carroll out of the state, she vetoed the legislature's repeal of its ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

The repeal had come to her as a late attachment to another bill regarding state pensions (House Joint Resolution 20) and Stovall claimed a legal right to reject it on two counts: the Kentucky constitution did not permit bills dealing with more than one subject, and there was a Senate rule that prohibited the introduction of new bills in the final ten days of any legislative session.

1979

Stovall sought election as Governor of Kentucky in 1979 but lost in the Democratic primary to John Y. Brown, Jr. who went on to win the general election.