Marilyn Lloyd, a Chattanooga politician hailed for shattering barriers to women, died Wednesday night at age 89.
Lloyd was the first woman from Tennessee elected to a full term in Congress, a feat that by itself would have made her a pivotal figure in the state’s history. But Lloyd went on to serve 10 terms, retiring in 1994.
Before Lloyd, only two women from Tennessee had ever been elected to Congress. But both had been chosen in special elections held after their husbands died in office, and they were expected to serve no more than the remainder of their terms. Neither woman ran for re-election.
Similar circumstances thrust Lloyd into politics. In 1974, her husband won the Democratic nomination for Congress, but he died in a plane crash shortly afterward, so Democrats selected her to run in his place.
Lloyd quickly made the job her own. One of her accomplishments was being the first woman named to the Science & Technology Committee, where she was an important voice.
“There were no women involved in health research,” she told CSPAN in a 1994 interview, shortly before her retirement from Congress. “So, we’re making marks there. We’ve increased the funding for women’s health initiatives.
“So, I think through health and the fact that we are seeing effective (women) and the committees that we serve on, it’s made a great difference.”
Lloyd cosponsored the Mammography Quality Standards Act, which established national requirements for mammograms. That passed in 1992, not long after Lloyd herself had been treated for breast cancer.
Lloyd was also an advocate for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which was located in her district. A research complex there is named for her.
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