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Regular Session, 2013
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 52
BY SENATOR GALLOT
CONDOLENCES. Expresses condolences upon the death of Dr. Minnie Thomas Bailey.
A RESOLUTION1
To express the sincere condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana upon the2
death of Minnie Thomas Bailey and to celebrate a life well lived in service to her3
community, state, and nation.4
WHEREAS, it is with great sorrow that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana5
has learned of the passing of Minnie Thomas Bailey on April 21, 2013, at the age of6
eighty-nine; and7
WHEREAS, she was born Minnie Thomas on March 10, 1924, in Pulaski,8
Tennessee, to parents, Robert Jackson and Georgia Malone Thomas; and9
WHEREAS, she was the beloved wife of Dr. Robert Lawson Bailey as they were10
married on September 30, 1944, and had one child, Barbara Bailey Wilson; and11
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 194512
from Tennessee State University in Nashville, a Master of Science degree in 1950 from Iowa13
State University in Ames, and a Education Doctorate degree with a History emphasis from14
Oklahoma State University in 1967, along with postdoctoral work with the Black Studies15
Institute at Southern University in 1970; and 16
WHEREAS, in her professional career, she was an elementary school principal at17
Giles County School System in Tennessee from 1946-1948 and an area co-ordinator of the18 SR NO. 52
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Greensboro School System in Greensboro, North Carolina from 1965-1959; and1
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey then began a long tenure at Grambling State2
University as an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and Head of History and3
Philosophy Department (1974 until her retirement on June 30, 1984), as well as Coordinator4
of Afro-American Studies and Director of International Studies; and 5
WHEREAS, she was a noted lecturer and consultant on the Black Experience and6
the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory; and 7
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey was also a member of the National Oral History8
Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Society of Southwest Archivists,9
Civil War Round Table, Stillwater Chapter, the Executive Board of Louisiana Colleges and10
Universities, the Executive Board of the Association of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the11
Southern Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, Phi Alpha Theta,12
International History Honor Society, Phi Gamm Mu National Social Science Fraternity,13
Conference of Louisiana Colleges and Universities, Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society,14
American Historical Association, the National Association of Interdisciplinary Ethnic15
Studies, Association of Black Women Historians, and League of Women Voters; and 16
WHEREAS, she was a past president of the Shadows of Phi Beta Sigma, a member17
of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a life member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and Historian18
of the Monroe-Grambling Chapter of Links, Inc.; and 19
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey appeared in Distinguished Personalities of the20
South, Dictionary of American Scholars, Dictionary of International Biography, Outstanding21
Educators of America, Leaders of Black America, The World's Who's Who for Women,22
Contemporary Authors, Who's Who of American Women, and Notable Americans of the23
Bicentennial Era; and 24
WHEREAS, her published works include "The Attitude of Thomas Jefferson Toward25
Negro Slavery During the Revolutionary and Early National Period", Reconstruction in26
Indian Territory: A story of Avarice, Discrimination and Opportunism, and Fidelia Adams27
Johnson: Ingenious Daughter of the Founder of Grambling State University; and28
WHEREAS, she received the Alpha Kappa Alpha Achievement Award, the29
Achievement Award from Lewis Temple C.M.E. Church, the E.H. Sparks Citation as a30 SR NO. 52
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distinguished personality in the South, Citation of Merit from the Dictionary of International1
Biography in Cambridge, England, Outstanding Educators of America Award, Omega Phi2
Psi Achievement Award, and Notable Americans of the Bicentennial Era Plaque; and 3
WHEREAS, upon her death, the state and nation lost a most unique individual, who4
has imparted an indelible mark upon the lives of all those who knew her and who benefitted5
from her love, generosity of spirit, commitment to education, and literary genius.6
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana7
does hereby express heartfelt condolences upon the death of Minnie Thomas Bailey and does8
hereby commemorate a life well spent in service to others.9
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does10
hereby pay tribute to the remarkable legacy that shall live on in the hearts of those lives she11
touched.12
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
Gallot SR No. 52
Expresses condolences upon the death of Dr. Minnie Thomas Bailey.