Graves, Dixie Bibb, 1882-1965

Dixie Bibb Graves (July 26, 1882 – January 21, 1965) was a First Lady from the State of Alabama and the first woman to serve as a United States Senator from Alabama. She was appointed to the Senate by her husband, Governor Bibb Graves, when Senator Hugo Black resigned his to take his place on the U.S. Supreme Court in August 1937. She was a member of the Democratic Party.

Born on her family's plantation outside of Montgomery, Alabama, Dixie Bibb attended the local public schools. In 1900, at the age of 18, she married state legislator David Bibb Graves, who was also her first cousin. Graves became a civic leader, serving as a trustee of Alabama Boys' Industrial School in Birmingham and president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy from 1915 to 1917. She was active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs, and the women's suffrage movement.

Her husband, Bibb Graves, became Alabama governor and began serving his second non-consecutive term in 1935. He appointed Dixie Bibb Graves to the U.S. Senate on August 20, 1937. The vacancy was caused by the resignation of Hugo L. Black, who became an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. Dixie Bibb Graves was the first woman Senator from Alabama, and the first married woman to serve in the Senate. She served from August 20, 1937 until her resignation on January 10, 1938.

Back in Alabama, Dixie Graves resumed her civic activities while taking on new causes, such as the United Service Organization (USO), the American Red Cross, and a statewide recruitment drive for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II. She also became the state advisor to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. Graves remained active in local civic activities until her death.