Dixie Bibb Graves (July 26, 1882 – January 21, 1965) was an American politician. She served as the First Lady of Alabama and was the first woman to serve as a United States senator from Alabama, and only the fourth woman to become a member of the U.S. Senate. She was appointed to the Senate by her husband, Governor Bibb Graves, when Senator Hugo Black resigned in order to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court in August 1937. Graves was succeeded by fellow Democrat Lister Hill, who would serve for over 3 decades.
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Early life
Dixie Bibb was born on July 26, 1882, on the family plantation outside of Montgomery, Alabama. Her parents were Peyton and Isabel Thorpe Bibb. She attended the local public schools. In 1900, at the age of 18, she married state legislator David Bibb Graves.
Civic activities
Graves became a civic leader. She was 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 Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs, and the women's suffrage movement.