Daisy Elliott

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Daisy L. Elliott

| image name = Daisy L. Elliott died 2015.png

| state_house = Michigan

| district = 8th

| term_start = January 1, 1981

| term_end = December 31, 1982

| predecessor = Ed Vaughn

| successor = Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick

| state_house2 = Michigan

| district2 = 8th

| term_start2 = January 1, 1963

| term_end2 = December 31, 1978

| predecessor2 = Frederick Yates

| successor2 = Ed Vaughn

| prior_term2 = Wayne County 4th district: 1963–1964
22nd district: 1965–1972

| office3 = Member of the 1961–1962 Michigan Constitutional Convention from the Wayne County 4th district

| term_start3 = October 1, 1961

| term_end3 = August 1, 1962

| birth_name = Daisy Elizabeth Lenoir

| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|11|26}}

| birth_place = Filbert, West Virginia, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|12|22|1917|11|26}}

| death_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

| profession = Realtor, politician

| party = Democratic

| awards = {{Awards|Michigan Women's Hall of Fame|2016}}

}}

Daisy L. Elliott (November 26, 1917 – December 22, 2015) was an American politician and realtor from the state of Michigan.{{cite web |title=The Political Graveyard: Elliott, Daisy L. (1917–2015) |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/elliott.html#421.38.31 |access-date=December 9, 2014 |website=The Political Graveyard}}

Early life

Elliott was born Daisy Elizabeth Lenoir in Filbert, West Virginia, and resided in Detroit, Michigan. She was a delegate to the 1961–1962 Michigan Constitutional Convention from Wayne County's 4th district, which resulted in Michigan's Constitution of 1963.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

Career

A Democrat, she represented Wayne County's 4th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1963 to 1964, Michigan's 22nd district, which replaced Wayne County's 4th district, from 1965 to 1972, and Michigan's 8th district from 1973 to 1978. She was an unsuccessful candidate in the primary for the Michigan Senate 5th district in 1978. then regained her old seat in the Michigan House in 1980. In politics, Elliott was nothing if not persistent: she was defeated five times in the primaries for State Representative (the 1st district in 1950, the 11th district in 1954, and the 4th district in 1956, 1958 and 1960) before finally winning in 1962.

While serving in the Michigan State House of Representatives, she co-authored the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which passed in 1976, with Melvin L. Larsen.{{cite news |author=Gubbins |first=Roberta M. |date=September 17, 2012 |title=Legal Milestone honors Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act |url=http://www.legalnews.com/oakland/1367237 |access-date=December 8, 2014 |work=Oakland County Legal News}}

In April 1982, Elliott was arrested for possessing a stolen 1977 Cadillac.{{Cite news |last=Kushma |first=David |date=April 6, 1982 |title=Legislator arrested in stolen car case |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/97759498/ |website=Detroit Free Press |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was defeated by Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick in the Democratic primary that year, and, after numerous appeals, had her conviction upheld in 1984.{{Cite news |last=Dzwonkowski |first=Ron |date=May 8, 1984 |title=Legislator's conviction in stolen car case upheld |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/99110836/ |website=Detroit Free Press |pages=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} She served sixty days in jail before being released in June 1985.{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1985 |title=Former state Rep. Elliott in jail |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/99518188/ |website=Detroit Free Press |pages=70 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Political career

She was a member of Democratic Party, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), League of Women Voters, and Junior League.

Death and legacy

She died on December 22, 2015, aged 98, at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.{{cite news |last1=Hicks |first1=Mark |date=December 23, 2015 |title=Daisy Elliott, Detroiter behind historic law, dies |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2015/12/23/daisy-elliott-detroiter-behind-historic-law-dies/77797400/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424003012/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/obituaries/2015/12/23/daisy-elliott-detroiter-behind-historic-law-dies/77797400/ |archive-date=April 24, 2019 |access-date=December 23, 2015 |work=The Detroit News}}{{cite news |last1=Baldas |first1=Tresa |last2=Stafford |first2=Kat |date=December 23, 2015 |title=Daisy Elliott, Detroit civil rights activist, dies |url=http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/12/23/daisy-elliott-detroit-civil-rights-activist-dies/77798192 |work=The Detroit Free Press}} She is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery near the Rosa L. Parks Freedom Chapel.

In 2016, she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |title=Daisy Elliott |url=https://miwf.org/timeline/daisy-elliott/ |access-date=January 26, 2024 |website=Michigan Women Forward}} On June 30, 2020, the Lewis Cass Building in Lansing was renamed the Elliott-Larsen Building in honor of Larsen and Elliot.{{cite web |date=June 30, 2020 |title=Michigan Executive Order 2020-139 Naming the "Elliott-Larsen Building" |url=https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MIEOG/2020/06/30/file_attachments/1485253/EO%202020-139%20Elliott-Larsen%20Building.pdf |accessdate=July 14, 2020 |website=Govdelivery}}

References

External links

{{cite web |last=Edward |first=Roz |date=December 23, 2015 |url=http://michronicleonline.com/2015/12/23/civil-rights-icon-daisy-elliott-dies-at-98/ |title=Civil Rights icon Daisy Elliott dies at 98 |website=Michigan Chronicle |access-date=December 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224052833/http://michronicleonline.com/2015/12/23/civil-rights-icon-daisy-elliott-dies-at-98/ |archive-date=December 24, 2015 |url-status=dead}}

{{succession box | title=State Representative for Wayne County's 4th district

| before=Frederick Yates (D) | after=Replaced with Michigan's 22nd district | years=1963–1964}}

{{succession box | title=State Representative for Michigan's 22nd district

| before=Created from Wayne County's 4th district | after=Gary M. Owen (D) | years=1965–1972}}

{{succession box | title=State Representative for Michigan's 8th district

| before=James Bradley (D) | after=Ed Vaughn (D) | years=1973–1978}}

{{succession box | title=State Representative for Michigan's 8th district

| before=Ed Vaughn (D) | after=Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D) | years=1981–1982}}

Category:1917 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:African-American state legislators in Michigan

Category:Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives