Founded in January 1970 in the 75th MO General Assembly

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DeVerne Lee Calloway (June 17, 1916 - January 23, 1993[1]) was an American politician who was the first black woman to serve in the Missouri state legislature. She served as a Missouri state representative. Calloway was educated at the Seventh Day Adventist Grammar School, LeMoyne College in Memphis, Atlanta University, Northwestern University, Pioneer Business Institute in Philadelphia, and Pendle Hill, a Quaker School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. She was married to Ernest A. Calloway,[2][3] a longtime Teamster organizer who died three years before she did.[4]She and her husband published the Citizen Crusaderwhich was later named the New Citizen. This newspaper covered black politics and civil rights in St. Louis.[5]

Bland served as a democratic politician in the Missouri legislature for nearly three decades. She served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 43rd district from 1981 to 1998 and the Missouri Senate from the 9th district from 1998 to 2005. Throughout her time in office her goals were to help to improve social and economic justice for people of color, especially women and children.[4]

Bland dedicated herself to improving the holistic health of her community, especially for its citizens of color and underserved populations. By 1987, she became the Chair of the Health and Public Safety Committee, Chair of Health and Mental Health Appropriation, and sat on the committees for Secondary and Higher Education and on Ways and Means Committee.[3][4] While serving in these capacities, Bland was directly responsible for the establishment of the Minority Health Issues Task Force and later the Missouri Office of Minority Health. These efforts were instrumental in addressing issues such as infant mortality, mental health challenges, and other health disparities in underserved communities.[4] During her career Bland participated in a number of additional committees, boards, and commissions including the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the National Black Caucus of State LegislatorsExecutive Board.[3] She was also the former president of Freedom Inc., an influential black political organization in Kansas City. She was active in the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus throughout her career and instrumental in holding an annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at the state capitol.[2] Bland announced her retirement in 2004 and served out the end of her term as State Senator until January of 2005.[4]

Gwen B. Giles was the first African American woman to serve in the Missouri Senate. She was also the first woman and the first African American to be appointed St. Louis city assessor. Giles was active in Democratic politics and the civil rights movement and worked to improve the quality of life for African Americans in St. Louis. Gwen Giles devoted her life to public service. She worked steadfastly to secure civil rights and improve living conditions for the citizens of St. Louis. After a six-month battle with lung cancer, Giles died March 26, 1986, at the age of 53. She is buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery in Normandy, Missouri. At her funeral, Mayor Schoemehl said, “She was an early and active proponent of civil rights and worked tirelessly to help those in need. Her intelligence, independence and dedication earned her the respect of the entire community.” In her honor, the Wellston Post Office in St. Louis was renamed the Gwen B. Giles Post Office Building. Catalpa Park in the West End, where she lived, was also renamed for he

 A native of Saint Louis, Senator Carter got involved in politics in the '60s. Her rise from Democratic precinct worker to an influential figure in the Missouri General Assembly clearly demonstrates the fact that one person can make a tremendous difference in the lives of all.During her tenure in the Missouri House and Senate, she was a fierce defender and protector of peoples' rights. To her it never mattered who her foes were. At a time when many accepted inequity and injustice as the way it always was, she saw them as challenges to be overcome. When  other politicians asked, ``Can we win?'' Senator Carter asked ``Should we fight?'' More often than not, the answer was a rousing ``Yes!'' Her efforts on behalf of women and minorities will never be forgotten. In addition to her legislative and civic successes, Senator Carter  was proud of her role as a mother and grandmother. Wardell, Gregory,  Keena, and Willie Christopher will attempt to carry on their mother's tradition, each in their own way, as will, also, her seven grandchildren. Though there are still causes to champion and battle to fight, this tireless advocate has been called to rest. May we all find inspiration in her deeds and renew our commitment to public service, a calling worthy of our lives. 

 The first African–American Representative from Missouri, Bill Clay, Sr., served in the House for more than three decades—longer than any other former black Member of the House. During his extensive tenure, he used his experience as a civil rights activist and labor union representative in St. Louis to promote legislation to help minorities and U.S. workers. Clay zealously represented his impoverished inner–city constituents, who he believed needed a strong voice in Congress. Never one to avoid confrontation, the fiery dean of the Missouri delegation observed, “I didn’t get so tied to the job that it stopped me from speaking out. People used to say to me, ‘How can you do that? You won’t get re–elected.’ I would say, ‘I didn’t come here to stay forever.’” William Lacy (Bill) Clay was born in St. Louis on April 30, 1931, to Irving Clay, a welder, and Luella (Hyatt) Clay. His political epiphany occurred in 1949, after police arrested him, hauled him to a district police station, and tried to coerce him to confess involvement in a brutal crime with which he had no connection. His aunt, a housekeeper for a member of the St. Louis board of police commissioners, telephoned her employer, and detectives were swiftly dispatched to end the interrogation.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is now serving his seventh term representing Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, the home district of President Harry Truman. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services; Chair of the subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy; member of Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance; member of the House Committee on Homeland Security; member of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security; and member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Having served for twelve years on the city council of Missouri’s largest municipality, Kansas City, Cleaver was elected as the city’s first African American Mayor in 1991. During his eight-year stint in the Office of the Mayor, Cleaver distinguished himself as an economic development activist and an unapologetic redevelopment craftsman. He and the City Council brought a number of major corporations to the city, including TransAmerica, Harley Davidson, and Citi Corp. Cleaver also led the effort, after a forty-year delay, to build the South Midtown Roadway. Upon completion of this major thoroughfare, he proposed a new name: The Bruce R. Watkins Roadway. Additionally, his municipal stewardship includes the 18th and Vine Redevelopment, a new American Royal, the establishment of a Family Division of the Municipal Court, and the reconstruction and beautification of Brush Creek. Cleaver has received five honorary Doctoral Degrees augmented by a bachelor’s degree from Prairie View A&M, and a master’s from St. Paul's School of Theology of Kansas City. In 2009, Cleaver, with a multitude of accomplishments both locally and Congressionally, introduced the most ambitious project of his political career—the creation of a Green Impact Zone. This zone, consisting of 150 blocks of declining urban core, has received approximately $125 million dollars in American Recovery and Reinvestment funds. The Green Impact Zone is aimed at making this high crime area the environmentally greenest piece of urban geography in the world. This project includes rebuilding Troost Avenue, rehabbing bridges, curbs and sidewalks, home weatherization, smart grid technology in hundreds of homes, and most importantly, hundreds of badly needed jobs for Green Zone residents.During the 112th Congress, Cleaver was unanimously elected the 20th chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. In 2016, as Ranking Member of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, Cleaver successfully co-authored the largest sweeping reform bill on housing programs in 20 years, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, a bipartisan comprehensive housing bill that passed into law with a unanimous vote. 

 Phillip B. Curls was a long-time state lawmaker and leader in the black community in Kansas City. An effective and popular legislator, he worked tirelessly to improve the lives of his African American constituents. He presided over the political club Freedom, Inc. during what many consider the organization’s “golden age.” A native of Kansas City, Curls was born in 1942. He graduated from De La Salle High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rockhurst College (now Rockhurst University). His father, Fred Curls, owned a real estate company and was a founder of Freedom, Inc., an important black political club incorporated in 1962 for the purpose of getting African Americans in Jackson County elected to public office. Phil Curls was a real estate appraiser and became president of Freedom, Inc. in 1986. Curls began his political career in 1972, representing Kansas City’s 28th District in the Missouri House of Representatives, where he served for 11 years. In 1983, he won the District 9 Senate seat in a special election, filling the remaining year of the term of state Senator Lee Vertis Swinton who resigned. He was elected to his first full term in the Missouri Senate in 1984 and served until he retired for health reasons in 1998. Curls was considered to be one of the most politically savvy legislators to come out of Kansas City’s black community. As the senior member of the Kansas City delegation in Jefferson City, Curls was known as a consensus builder and was respected by both constituents and colleagues. As a member of the Senate, Curls sponsored major legislation that affected the economic development of Kansas City and the state of Missouri. He was instrumental in passing legislation that established the funding mechanism for Kansas City projects, such as the Truman Sports Complex and Bartle Hall. 

 In January 2020, former State Senator Shalonn “Kiki” Curls (D-Kansas City) was confirmed by the Missouri Senate to serve on the Missouri Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (LIRC).  Curls’ appointment by Governor Michael L. Parson made her the first African American and fifth woman to serve as LIRC Commissioner.

The LIRC’s primary constitutional duty is to oversee the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) in appeals of workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and tort victims’ claims as well as prevailing wage objections. 

As Senator, Curls represented the 9th Senatorial District in Jackson County.  After serving in the Missouri House since 2007, she won a special election to the Missouri Senate in February 2011. Curls won re-election in 2012 and again in 2016. 

While in the Missouri Senate, Curls served in multiple leadership roles, including the position of Assistant Minority Floor Leader. During her tenure, Senator Curls has worked tirelessly on issues regarding access to quality healthcare, decent and affordable housing, quality education and economic development. 

Senator Curls received her education from St. Teresa’s Academy in Kansas City and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Senator Curls is the proud mother of twins, James and Michaela.