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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 52
BY SENATOR GALLOT
A RESOLUTION
To express the sincere condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana upon the
death of Minnie Thomas Bailey and to celebrate a life well lived in service to her
community, state, and nation.
WHEREAS, it is with great sorrow that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
has learned of the passing of Minnie Thomas Bailey on April 14, 2013, at the age of
eighty-nine; and
WHEREAS, she was born Minnie Thomas on March 10, 1924, in Pulaski,
Tennessee, to parents, Robert Jackson and Georgia Malone Thomas; and
WHEREAS, she was the beloved wife of Dr. Robert Lawson Bailey as they were
married on September 30, 1944, and had one child, Barbara Bailey Wilson; and
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1945
from Tennessee State University in Nashville, a Master of Science degree in 1950 from Iowa
State University in Ames, and a Education Doctorate degree with a History emphasis from
Oklahoma State University in 1967, along with postdoctoral work with the Black Studies
Institute at Southern University in 1970; and
WHEREAS, in her professional career, she was an elementary school principal at
Giles County School System in Tennessee from 1946-1948 and an area coordinator of the
Greensboro School System in Greensboro, North Carolina from 1965-1959; and
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey then began a long tenure at Grambling State
University as an instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, and Head of the History
and Philosophy Department from 1974 until her retirement on June 30, 1984, as well as
Coordinator of Afro-American Studies and Director of International Studies; and
WHEREAS, she was a noted lecturer and consultant on the Black Experience and
the Five Civilized Tribes of the Indian Territory; and
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey was also a member of the National Oral History
Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Society of Southwest Archivists,
Civil War Round Table, Stillwater Chapter, the Executive Board of Louisiana Colleges and SR NO. 52 ENROLLED
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Universities, the Executive Board of the Association of Social and Behavioral Sciences, the
Southern Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, Phi Alpha Theta,
International History Honor Society, Phi Gamm Mu National Social Science Fraternity,
Conference of Louisiana Colleges and Universities, Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society,
American Historical Association, the National Association of Interdisciplinary Ethnic
Studies, Association of Black Women Historians, and League of Women Voters; and
WHEREAS, she was a past president of the Shadows of Phi Beta Sigma, a member
of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a life member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, and Historian
of the Monroe-Grambling Chapter of Links, Inc.; and
WHEREAS, Minnie Thomas Bailey appeared in Distinguished Personalities of the
South, Dictionary of American Scholars, Dictionary of International Biography, Outstanding
Educators of America, Leaders of Black America, The World's Who's Who for Women,
Contemporary Authors, Who's Who of American Women, and Notable Americans of the
Bicentennial Era; and
WHEREAS, her published works include "The Attitude of Thomas Jefferson Toward
Negro Slavery During the Revolutionary and Early National Period", Reconstruction in
Indian Territory: A story of Avarice, Discrimination and Opportunism, and Fidelia Adams
Johnson: Ingenious Daughter of the Founder of Grambling State University; and
WHEREAS, she received the Alpha Kappa Alpha Achievement Award, the
Achievement Award from Lewis Temple C.M.E. Church, the E.H. Sparks Citation as a
distinguished personality in the South, Citation of Merit from the Dictionary of International
Biography in Cambridge, England, Outstanding Educators of America Award, Omega Phi
Psi Achievement Award, and Notable Americans of the Bicentennial Era Plaque; and
WHEREAS, upon her death, the state and nation lost a most unique individual, who
has imparted an indelible mark upon the lives of all those who knew her and who benefitted
from her love, generosity of spirit, commitment to education, and literary genius.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby express heartfelt condolences upon the death of Minnie Thomas Bailey and does
hereby commemorate a life well spent in service to others.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does SR NO. 52 ENROLLED
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hereby pay tribute to the remarkable legacy that shall live on in the hearts of those lives she
touched.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE