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Maryon Pittman AllenAmerican politician, journalist, US Senator
Date of Birth: 30.11.1925
Country:  USA |
Content:
Early Life and Family
Marion Pittman was born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1925. Her family moved to Birmingham, Alabama the following year, where her father established a tractor dealership.
Education and Marriage
From 1944 to 1947, Pittman attended the University of Alabama, majoring in journalism. She married Joshua Mullins in 1946 and had three children with him. They divorced in 1959.
Journalism Career and Second Marriage
After her divorce, Pittman worked as an insurance agent and then as a women's section editor for five weekly newspapers in the Birmingham area. She later became a staff reporter for "The Birmingham News." While there, she met James Allen, the future Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. Marion and James, a widower with two children, married in August 1964.
U.S. Senate Service
On June 1, 1978, Marion's husband Jim Allen died suddenly of a heart attack while serving as U.S. Senator from Alabama. A week later, on June 8th, Alabama Governor George Wallace appointed Marion Allen as her husband's successor. She was sworn into office the same day, becoming one of only two women in the Senate at the time, alongside Muriel Humphrey-Brown of Minnesota.
