33rd Legislature(2023-2024)
Member Information
Blanche McSmith
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
1959-1960 Representative District
BIRTH DATE/PLACE:05/05/1920;
Marshall, Texas
EDUCATION:College/University: Wiley College, Graduate, 1941
Post Graduate: University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, Master's in Social Work, 1944
SPOUSE:William McSmith
CHILDREN:Kimberly Blanche McSmith
EMPLOYMENT:Founder/Co-Owner, McSmith Enterprises (comprised of: Local Television and Appliance Store, Real Estate Business, and Liquor Store);
Associate Editor, Local News, The Alaska Spotlight (Alaska's First Black Newspaper);
Member, Board of Directors, Greater Anchorage Area Community Action Agency;
Social Services Manager, Head Start Program;
Director, Public Employment Program, Office of the Governor
SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS:Organized, Local Chapter of the NAACP, Anchorage;
Organized, Afro-American Historical Society of Alaska;
Officer, Board of the Anchorage Tuberculosis Association;
Member, League of Women Voters;
Member, various Toastmaster Clubs;
Member, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority;
Member, Democratic Party of Alaska
OCCUPATION:Founder/Co-Owner, McSmith Enterprises from Anchorage
OTHER:Appointed, 01/25/1960 by then-Governor William Egan, to serve in the House of Representatives, 1st Alaska State Legislature
- thus becoming the first African-American to serve in that body
