In 1922 Somerville ran for the Mississippi House of Representatives , winning one of the seats in the at-large district in the Democratic Party primary . Given the paucity of Republicans in state politics this was tantamount to election . During her term of office , she championed progressive causes and held the governor , Henry L. Whitfield , to his campaign pledge of appointing women to state boards . She also served as a delegate to the 1924 Democratic National Convention . Somerville won reelection in 1926 , but her husband had died the previous year and she never truly recovered . Furthermore , during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 , she refused , as a state representative , to evacuate her property , leading to an angry response from officials of the American Red Cross . They refused to accept her input , and she withdrew from her 1928 reelection campaign , disheartened . During her time in office she had been a champion of education , sponsoring the bill which established Delta State Teachers College . She also attempted to ban child labor in textile mills , but was less successful in these efforts . She chaired the committee on eleemosynary institutions , which gained in its prestige during her time in office . Generally , she compiled a more liberal record in office than her longtime colleague , Belle Kearney . She was noted as a keen observer of her fellow legislators , and it was considered noteworthy when a bill which she had championed failed in its passage . In 1928 she broke ranks with her party and supported Herbert Hoover , a " dry " , over the " wet " Al Smith in the race for president
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Nellie Nugent Somerville