Mary Evelyn Parker
Encyclopedia
Mary Evelyn Dickerson Parker (born November 8, 1920) is a former Democratic
state treasurer
of Louisiana
, having served from 1968-1987. She was the first woman to have held the position. Prior to her tenure as treasurer, she held several appointed positions in state government. She was an integral part of the Long
faction
and a close friend and strategist for both Governor
Earl Kemp Long (1895–1960) and his wife, Blanche Revere Long
(1902–1998) and later for Governor John J. McKeithen
.
in Allen Parish. She attended Northwestern State University
(then College) in Natchitoches
on a scholarship recommended by one of her Oakdale High School
teachers, William J. "Bill" Dodd, later the Louisiana lieutenant governor
and superintendent of education. Miss Dickerson received her bachelor's degree in 1941. She was a social worker in Allen Parish from 1941–1943, while she also obtained a diploma in social work from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge in 1943.
During World War II
, Miss Dickerson was the personnel administrator for the War Department's Camp Claiborne
from 1943-1947. From 1947-1948, she was the editor
of the Oakdale Journal.
In 1952, Miss Dickerson ran for the statewide position of register of the state land office, when the incumbent, Lucille May Grace
stepped down to run unsuccessfully for governor. She ran on the Long ticket, with Carlos Spaht
of Baton Rouge for governor and John McKeithen, a young lawyer from Columbia
and an Earl Long floor leader in the legislature, seeking the position of lieutenant governor. Also running on the Long ticket was the choice for attorney general
, Joseph A. Sims
of Hammond
. The Long candidates lost that year, and Miss Dickerson was defeated by the anti-Long choice, Ellen Bryan Moore
of Baton Rouge.
Miss Grace, as a Long candidate, but one distrusted by Earl Long for his own reasons, returned in 1956 to unseat Mrs. Moore in the Democratic primary. She died in office a year later. Mrs. Moore returned to the post in 1960 and served until 1976, when the position cease to be elective.
Miss Dickerson married W. Bryant Parker of Baton Rouge on October 31, 1954. Sadly, the marriage lasted less than eleven years, for Mr. Parker died in May 1965. The Parkers had two daughters, Mary Bryant Parker and Anne Graham Parker. Mrs. Parker, widowed at forty-four, did not remarry. She has four grandchildren, Adam Smith, Bryant Smith, Mary Evelyn Smith, and Parker Crochet. She has three great-grandchildren, Summit,David and Caleb Smith.
During a period when she was not in political office, Mrs. Parker was a successful insurance
agent from 1952 to 1956 and a member of the prestigious Million Dollar Roundtable.
Mrs. Parker was chairman of the White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1960. She headed the Board of Public Welfare from 1956-1963. She was also a president of the Louisiana Conference of Social Welfare. She was a member of the board of directors of the Women's Hospital in Baton Rouge and a trustee of Episcopal High School.
In the first McKeithen term, she was rewarded with a position in the Division of Administration.
Writes Dodd, in his memoirs entitled Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics:
"As a teacher [in Oakdale High School], I had taught her how to speak; as a legislator, I had gotten her a scholarship that gave her a college education [Northwestern State]; and as lieutenant governor, I had found her a big job in our administration. She was a wonderful speaker and a good administrator, but she must have been a born ingrate." The latter remark referred to Mrs. Parker having undercut Dodd in his gubernatorial campaigns of 1951-1952 and again in 1959.
Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr.
(1921–2006) and former Georgia
Governor Roy Barnes, Jr.
.
Mrs. Parker was the first woman to be elected treasurer of Louisiana. She ran to succeed 32-year incumbent Andrew Patrick "Pat" Tugwell, Sr., who had announced his retirement. She was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. In the general election
held on February 6, 1968, she defeated Republican
nominee Allison Ray Kolb
(1915–1973) of Baton Rouge. Kolb was the only Republican challenging any of the Democratic nominees for state constitutional offices that year, and his candidacy was not taken serious by voters. He had been auditor (when he was a Democrat) in the administration of former Governor Robert F. Kennon
. Mrs. Parker won all sixty-four parishes: 337,234 (73.7 percent) to Kolb's 120,253 (26.3 percent). She polled at least 57 percent of the vote in all parishes except Lafayette and East Baton Rouge parishes.
In her later elections, Parker was a runaway winner over her opponents.
of West Monroe
, to appeal for improved retirement benefits for the lesser state constitutional officers, including herself as treasurer and the secretary of state, education superintendent, insurance commissioner, elections commissioner, agriculture commissioner, and attorney general. Greater benefits were then being paid to legislators, former governors, and judges than to the constitutional officers. Wall adjourned the committee without acting on Parker's request. Few on the committee seemed sympathetic to Parker's appeal. One committee member in fact, Ron Gomez
of Lafayette
, tried to reduce the retirement payments of former governors, judges, and legislators back to the level of Parker and the other constitutional officers, but Wall refused to recognize Gomez to offer his amendment.
Parker served until January 1, 1987, when she retired with nearly a year and a half left in her fifth term. Mary Landrieu
, her fellow Democratic woman and then a state representative from New Orleans
, was elected in 1987 to succeed her as treasurer. Mary Landrieu defeated three fellow Democrats for the post, including two legislative colleagues, former U.S. Representative Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr., a wealthy Leesville
businessman and the current Louisiana Democratic Party state chairman, and (2) Kevin P. Reilly, Sr.
, then the CEO of the Lamar Advertising Company
in Baton Rouge.
On her retirement, Mrs. Parker received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Northwestern State University. In 1976, she was named Baton Rouge's "Woman of the Year. She was also listed in "Who's Who in America." In 1994, she, along with Virginia Shehee
, Virginia Martinez
, and Lindy Boggs
, was among the first nine inductees into the new Louisiana Center for Women and Government Hall of Fame at Nicholls State University
in Thibodaux
. In 1996, Parker was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
. She is a Baptist
.
Parker and two other Louisiana Democrats, U.S. District Judge Adrian Duplantier and former State Representative Risley C. Triche
of Napoleonville
in Assumption Parish
, were interviewed for the 2001 book Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor. The three testified to their personal knowledge of racism
in 1960-1961 in Louisiana against African American
public assistance recipients. Parker's expertise on the matter is based on her former tenure as head of the State Welfare Board.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
state treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, having served from 1968-1987. She was the first woman to have held the position. Prior to her tenure as treasurer, she held several appointed positions in state government. She was an integral part of the Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
faction
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
and a close friend and strategist for both Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Earl Kemp Long (1895–1960) and his wife, Blanche Revere Long
Blanche Long
Blanche Beulah Revere Long was the first lady of Louisiana from 1939–1940, 1948–1952, and 1956-1960. She was also a "partner in power" to her husband, Governor Earl Kemp Long. From 1956-1963, she was the Democratic national committeewoman from Louisiana...
(1902–1998) and later for Governor John J. McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
.
Early years and education
Mrs. Parker was born to Racia E. Dickerson and the former Addie Graham in Fullerton in Vernon Parish. She grew up in nearby OakdaleOakdale, Louisiana
Oakdale is a small city in Allen Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,137 at the 2000 census.Oakdale was founded as "Dunnsville" by William T. Dunn...
in Allen Parish. She attended Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...
(then College) in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
on a scholarship recommended by one of her Oakdale High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
teachers, William J. "Bill" Dodd, later the Louisiana lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
and superintendent of education. Miss Dickerson received her bachelor's degree in 1941. She was a social worker in Allen Parish from 1941–1943, while she also obtained a diploma in social work from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge in 1943.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Miss Dickerson was the personnel administrator for the War Department's Camp Claiborne
Camp Claiborne
Camp Claiborne was a U.S. Army military camp during World War II located in Rapides Parish in central Louisiana. The camp was under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Eighth Service Command, and included 23,000 acres ....
from 1943-1947. From 1947-1948, she was the editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
of the Oakdale Journal.
A real political player
Dodd helped Miss Dickerson to obtain the position of executive director of the Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry in 1948 in the Long administration. From 1948-1952, she was also the Democratic national committeewoman from Louisiana. Miss Dickerson was a delegate to the 1948 national party convention in Philadelphia.In 1952, Miss Dickerson ran for the statewide position of register of the state land office, when the incumbent, Lucille May Grace
Lucille May Grace
Lucille May Grace, a.k.a. Mrs. Fred Columbus Dent, Sr., , was the first woman to attain statewide elected office in Louisiana. A Democrat, "Miss Grace," as she preferred to be called, became Register of the State Land Office in 1931 on appointment of Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr...
stepped down to run unsuccessfully for governor. She ran on the Long ticket, with Carlos Spaht
Carlos Spaht
Carlos Gustave Spaht, I , was a Louisiana judge best remembered for having lost the Democratic gubernatorial runoff election in January 1952 to fellow Judge Robert F. Kennon of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. Spaht's unsuccessful running mate for lieutenant governor...
of Baton Rouge for governor and John McKeithen, a young lawyer from Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....
and an Earl Long floor leader in the legislature, seeking the position of lieutenant governor. Also running on the Long ticket was the choice for attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, Joseph A. Sims
Joseph A. Sims
Joseph Arthur Sims, Sr. , was a Democratic operative from Hammond, Louisiana, who was associated with his state's Long political faction. As the legal advisor to Governor Earl Kemp Long, he obtained Long's discharge from the Southeast Louisiana State Hospital in Mandeville in St...
of Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...
. The Long candidates lost that year, and Miss Dickerson was defeated by the anti-Long choice, Ellen Bryan Moore
Ellen Bryan Moore
Ellen Bryan Moore was a pioneer of women in Louisiana politics, having served in the formerly elected office of "Register of State Lands" from 1952–1956 and 1960-1976...
of Baton Rouge.
Miss Grace, as a Long candidate, but one distrusted by Earl Long for his own reasons, returned in 1956 to unseat Mrs. Moore in the Democratic primary. She died in office a year later. Mrs. Moore returned to the post in 1960 and served until 1976, when the position cease to be elective.
Miss Dickerson married W. Bryant Parker of Baton Rouge on October 31, 1954. Sadly, the marriage lasted less than eleven years, for Mr. Parker died in May 1965. The Parkers had two daughters, Mary Bryant Parker and Anne Graham Parker. Mrs. Parker, widowed at forty-four, did not remarry. She has four grandchildren, Adam Smith, Bryant Smith, Mary Evelyn Smith, and Parker Crochet. She has three great-grandchildren, Summit,David and Caleb Smith.
During a period when she was not in political office, Mrs. Parker was a successful insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
agent from 1952 to 1956 and a member of the prestigious Million Dollar Roundtable.
Mrs. Parker was chairman of the White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1960. She headed the Board of Public Welfare from 1956-1963. She was also a president of the Louisiana Conference of Social Welfare. She was a member of the board of directors of the Women's Hospital in Baton Rouge and a trustee of Episcopal High School.
Helping to elect McKeithen
In the 1963-1964 gubernatorial race, Mrs. Parker was a key operative in the campaign to elect John McKeithen, then one of the state's three public service commissioners, as governor. McKeithen's campaign was managed by Blanche Long, and Mrs. Parker delivered speeches on the candidate's behalf. One of her high-powered speeches—and Dodd had taught her speech at Oakdale High School—televised across the state was called "All that Glitters Is Not Gold." The title referred to a line from Shakespeare, but it was really an effective attack on the "reform" record of McKeithen's intraparty opponent, former New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr. In her stern, tough, no-nonsense demeanor, Mrs. Parker was in fact playing the role as "hatchet woman" for the McKeithen forces.In the first McKeithen term, she was rewarded with a position in the Division of Administration.
Writes Dodd, in his memoirs entitled Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics:
"As a teacher [in Oakdale High School], I had taught her how to speak; as a legislator, I had gotten her a scholarship that gave her a college education [Northwestern State]; and as lieutenant governor, I had found her a big job in our administration. She was a wonderful speaker and a good administrator, but she must have been a born ingrate." The latter remark referred to Mrs. Parker having undercut Dodd in his gubernatorial campaigns of 1951-1952 and again in 1959.
Election as treasurer, 1968
In 1967, Mrs. Parker donned the hat of "efficient administrator" and ran with McKeithen's support for state treasurer. She retained the services of a fledgling press secretary and consultant named Raymond Strother: it was the first campaign that Strother, later one of the most successful campaign organizers in Louisiana and throughout the South, ever managed. Strother has worked almost exclusively for Democrats, including TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr.
Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
(1921–2006) and former Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
Governor Roy Barnes, Jr.
Roy Barnes
Roy Eugene Barnes served as the 80th Governor of Georgia from January 1999 until January 2003. Barnes was also a candidate for Governor of Georgia in the 2010 election....
.
Mrs. Parker was the first woman to be elected treasurer of Louisiana. She ran to succeed 32-year incumbent Andrew Patrick "Pat" Tugwell, Sr., who had announced his retirement. She was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. In the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
held on February 6, 1968, she defeated Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee Allison Ray Kolb
Allison Kolb
Allison Ray Kolb was the Democratic auditor of Louisiana from 1952 to 1956, who angered many local officials in the pursuit of his job duties and was hence defeated by former Lieutenant Governor William J. "Bill" Dodd in the 1956 party primary...
(1915–1973) of Baton Rouge. Kolb was the only Republican challenging any of the Democratic nominees for state constitutional offices that year, and his candidacy was not taken serious by voters. He had been auditor (when he was a Democrat) in the administration of former Governor Robert F. Kennon
Robert F. Kennon
Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....
. Mrs. Parker won all sixty-four parishes: 337,234 (73.7 percent) to Kolb's 120,253 (26.3 percent). She polled at least 57 percent of the vote in all parishes except Lafayette and East Baton Rouge parishes.
In her later elections, Parker was a runaway winner over her opponents.
Retirement
In 1980, Parker appeared before the House Retirement Committee, chaired then by Shady R. WallShady Wall
Shady Robert Wall was a banker and philanthropist from West Monroe, Louisiana, who served nonconsecutively as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1948–1956 and 1968-1984. Wall is remembered for his colorful dress, speeding in his Rolls Royce, flamboyant personality,...
of West Monroe
West Monroe, Louisiana
West Monroe is a city in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,250 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, to appeal for improved retirement benefits for the lesser state constitutional officers, including herself as treasurer and the secretary of state, education superintendent, insurance commissioner, elections commissioner, agriculture commissioner, and attorney general. Greater benefits were then being paid to legislators, former governors, and judges than to the constitutional officers. Wall adjourned the committee without acting on Parker's request. Few on the committee seemed sympathetic to Parker's appeal. One committee member in fact, Ron Gomez
Ron Gomez
Ronald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez , is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989. From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in...
of Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, tried to reduce the retirement payments of former governors, judges, and legislators back to the level of Parker and the other constitutional officers, but Wall refused to recognize Gomez to offer his amendment.
Parker served until January 1, 1987, when she retired with nearly a year and a half left in her fifth term. Mary Landrieu
Mary Landrieu
Mary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana and a member of the Democratic Party.Born in Arlington, Virginia, Landrieu was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
, her fellow Democratic woman and then a state representative from New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, was elected in 1987 to succeed her as treasurer. Mary Landrieu defeated three fellow Democrats for the post, including two legislative colleagues, former U.S. Representative Anthony Claude "Buddy" Leach, Jr., a wealthy Leesville
Leesville, Louisiana
Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,753 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to the Fort Polk U.S. Army installation...
businessman and the current Louisiana Democratic Party state chairman, and (2) Kevin P. Reilly, Sr.
Kevin Reilly (Louisiana politician)
Kevin Patrick Reilly, Sr. , a retired businessman and active philanthropist from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is the former executive officer of the Lamar Advertising Company who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 68 between 1972 and 1988...
, then the CEO of the Lamar Advertising Company
Lamar Advertising Company
The Lamar Advertising Company , based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a provider of billboards, transit advertising, and highway logo signs. Founded in 1902, Lamar currently operates over 150 outdoor advertising companies in more than 40 states and Puerto Rico...
in Baton Rouge.
On her retirement, Mrs. Parker received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Northwestern State University. In 1976, she was named Baton Rouge's "Woman of the Year. She was also listed in "Who's Who in America." In 1994, she, along with Virginia Shehee
Virginia Shehee
Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee is a Shreveport businesswoman and civic leader and the first female state senator from District 38. She won her seat in the 1975 general election by 23 votes over incumbent Cecil K. Carter, Jr. and served a single term until 1980. She was defeated in 1979 by fellow...
, Virginia Martinez
Virginia Martinez (Louisiana politician)
Virginia Morse Martinez, usually known as Ginny Martinez , was a long-term Louisiana Republican Party official who is credited with having landed her party's 1988 national convention in her adopted home city of New Orleans. Delegates nominated the Bush-Quayle ticket...
, and Lindy Boggs
Lindy Boggs
Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, usually known as Lindy Boggs , is a United States political figure who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as ambassador to the Vatican. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana...
, was among the first nine inductees into the new Louisiana Center for Women and Government Hall of Fame at Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...
in Thibodaux
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...
. In 1996, Parker was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
. She is a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
.
Parker and two other Louisiana Democrats, U.S. District Judge Adrian Duplantier and former State Representative Risley C. Triche
Risley C. Triche
Risley Claiborne Triche, also known as Pappy Triche , is an attorney in Napoleonville, Louisiana, who served as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1955-1976...
of Napoleonville
Napoleonville, Louisiana
Napoleonville is a village in and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 686 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in Assumption Parish
Assumption Parish, Louisiana
Assumption Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and was formed in 1807 as an original parish of the Louisiana Territory. Its parish seat is Napoleonville. In 2000, its population was 23,388. Assumption is one of the 22 Acadiana parishes. Its major product is sugarcane...
, were interviewed for the 2001 book Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor. The three testified to their personal knowledge of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
in 1960-1961 in Louisiana against African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
public assistance recipients. Parker's expertise on the matter is based on her former tenure as head of the State Welfare Board.