page_title: Anna Belle Clement O'Brien
hierarchical_section_title: Anna Belle Clement O'Brien
caption_attribution_description: Sen. Lamar Alexander (far left), former Tennessee State Senator Anna Belle Clement O'Brien and former U.S. Representative Bob Clement discuss Gov. Frank G. Clement's courageous role in the desegration of Clinton High School during a ceremony at the Green McAdoo site in Clinton recently. “In 1956, one year before Central High School in Little Rock was integrated, Governor Clement and the citizens of Clinton did what they were supposed to do by enforcing the law and successfully integrating Clinton High School without federal intervention,” Alexander said. “The Clinton 12 bravely stood up and became the first students to enter a desegregated public high school in the South, and we need to honor their important place in our nation’s history. We also need to recognize the leadership and courage it took for Governor Clement to desegregate Clinton High without the need for federal armed forces. I think it is very important to honor the story of the Clinton 12 and what the Tennessee community and especially Governor Clement did a year before Little Rock Central by making this site a unit in the National Park System.”
context_page_description: Anna Belle Clement O'Brien was a Tennessee politician, nicknamed "the first lady of Tennessee politics." She served as the governor's chief of staff from 1963 to 1967, was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 89th General Assembly, from 1975 to 1977, and a Tennessee State Senator in the 90th to 96th General Assemblies, from 1977 to 1991. While she was not the first woman ever to be in the Tennessee Senate, she was the first woman ever to be a chairman of a committee. Senator Mildred Jolly Lashlee was Chair of the Public Utilities Committee 1945-1947 which was absorbed into Energy & Natural Resources Committee during Senator O'Brien's tenure. During her 22 years in the General Assembly, she was the chairperson for three committees: Education, Transportation, and the Democratic Caucus.
context_section_description: Anna Belle Clement O'Brien (May 6, 1923 – August 31, 2009) was a Tennessee politician, nicknamed "the first lady of Tennessee politics."  She served as the governor's chief of staff from 1963 to 1967, was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 89th General Assembly, from 1975 to 1977, and a Tennessee State Senator in the 90th to 96th General Assemblies, from 1977 to 1991. While she was not the first woman ever to be in the Tennessee Senate, she was the first woman ever to be a chairman of a committee (as enacted in her tenure). Senator Mildred Jolly Lashlee was Chair of the Public Utilities Committee 1945-1947 which was absorbed into Energy & Natural Resources Committee during Senator O'Brien's tenure. During her 22 years in the General Assembly, she was the chairperson for three committees: Education, Transportation, and the Democratic Caucus.
caption: Anna Belle Clement O'Brien with U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (left) and her nephew Bob Clement (right), flanking a poster image of her brother Frank G. Clement, at the Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee, in August 2008.
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