Evelyn Blackmon

Evelyn Kinnison Blackmon (November 2, 1924 – May 21, 2014) was a Realtor from West Monroe, Louisiana, USA, and from 1984 to 1988 a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 15, the first and thus far only woman to hold that particular legislative seat.[1]

Evelyn Blackmon
Louisiana State Representative from District 15 (Ouachita Parish)
In office 1984–1988
Preceded by	Shady Wall
Succeeded by	Charles Anding
Personal details
Born	Evelyn Kinnison November 2, 1924 Standard, LaSalle Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	May 21, 2014 (aged 89)
Resting place	Mulhearn Memorial Park in Monroe, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Dr. Edward S. Blackmon, Jr. (deceased)
Children	Dr. Larry Blackmon Jan B. Mattingly Five granddaughters
Residence	West Monroe Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, US
Alma mater	University of Louisiana at Monroe
Occupation	Real estate businesswoman

Background

Born in Standard in northern La Salle Parish in North Louisiana, Blackmon was one of two daughters of Robert Samuel Kinnison and the former Emma Horne. Her sister, Dorothy Kinnision, preceded her in death. In 1967, Blackmon became the first woman to receive a degree in industrial management from the College of Business Administration of the University of Louisiana at Monroe.[2]

In 1968, she became the first woman elected president of the Louisiana Realtors Association. She was instrumental in securing the property which became the West Monroe Post Office as well as the acquisition of Glenwood Mall and its conversion to a Medical Mall. In 1974, she was the first woman in Louisiana to receive the Realtor designation of "Certified Commercial Investment Member." She was the first woman named to the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry, an appointment that she received in 1976 from then Lieutenant Governor Jimmy Fitzmorris.[2] She was a former director of the West Monroe Chamber of Commerce.[3]

Political life

In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 1983, Blackmon led the Republican insurance agent Robert Charles Payne (born c. 1943) by 14 votes, 3,244 (22.5 percent) to 3,230 (22.4 percent). Four other candidates held the actual majority of the votes cast, 55 percent, but were eliminated in the general election between frontrunners Blackmon and Payne.[4] Blackmon then defeated Payne, 5,295 (53.9 percent) to 4,523 (46.1 percent),[5] but her seat would turn Republican with the 1995 election.

During her one term in the legislature, Blackmon and Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette were two of only five women in both houses of the state legislature. Blanco was subsequently elected governor of Louisiana in 2003, with her friend Blackmon's support.[3] While serving in the state House, she helped to secure the I-20 Camp Road Interchange in Ouachita Parish.[2]

Blackmon was defeated for a second term in the primary held on October 24, 1987. With 3,083 votes (20.1 percent), she finished third among five candidates. Fellow Democrat Charles Anding, a labor union official from West Monroe, who led in the primary with 4,569 votes (29.8 percent), was placed into a general election with Republican David Glen Haynes (born c. 1954), who received 3,984 primary votes (26 percent). Anding then narrowly defeated Haynes to claim the seat.[6] Haynes had also run unsuccessfully for this same House seat in 1983.[4]

Death at 89

Blackmon and her late husband, Dr. Edward S. Blackmon, Jr., had two children, Dr. Larry Blackmon and wife Dency, and Jan Mattingly and husband, Dale, all of West Monroe. The couple had a second home on Caney Lake in Jackson Parish and traveled widely throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia during their time together. Blackmon died at the age of eighty-nine. Services were held on May 23 in the Feazel Chapel of the First Baptist Church of West Monroe, where she was a long-time member. Burial followed at Mulhearn Memorial Park in Monroe.[2]

References

1. "Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2016" (PDF). house.louisiana.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
2. "Evelyn Blackmon obituary". Monroe News-Star. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
3. "Former state representative Blackmon dead at 89", Monroe News-Star, May 22, 2014
4. "Results for Election Date: 10/22/1983". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
5. "Results for Election Date: 11/19/1983". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
6. "Results for Election Date: 10/24/1987". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved May 22, 2014.