Contact: Maridith Geuder
In public ceremonies Saturday [Oct. 13], Mississippi State will officially receive the papers of United States Rep. Marsha W. Blackburn, a university alumna who became the first female from Tennessee elected to the House of Representatives. The Laurel, Miss., native and Republican now is serving her third term in Congress.
The 9:30 a.m. event in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library is jointly sponsored by Mitchell Memorial Library, John C. Stennis Center for Public Service and Stennis Institute of Government.
Blackburn, a 1973 home economics graduate, represents the 7th District, which stretches from Nashville's suburbs to the outskirts of Memphis. Her papers will be added to those of other prominent officials represented in the library's Congressional and Political Research Center. Among them are Blackburn's colleague, Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), as well as former U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis and congressmen G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery and David Bowen.
Blackburn earlier was a history-making Tennessee state senator when she became the first woman to represent the state's 23rd District.
Currently, she is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and deputy minority whip for the 110th Congress. She has been actively involved in Tennessee politics and civic organizations for more than 25 years.
For more information on the program, telephone the library at 662-325-2559.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.