Mary Booze

Late life and career In 1924, Booze became a member of the Republican National Committee; she was one of the first African-American women to do so along with Mary Miller Williams of Georgia. Some of the Montgomery daughters claimed they were not given fair shares of the estate, and the case was brought to court. On August 10, 1927, Mary and her husband, Eugene P. Booze were arrested and charged in a case brought by her sister Estella Montgomery with the poisoning of her father Isaiah T. Montgomery who died in 1924. Critics were immediately skeptical of the charges, which were dismissed without trial, and "further expressed the opinion that Mr. and Mrs. Booze are the victims of a frame-up designed to reflect discredit upon Mrs. Booze as National Republican Committee-woman".

During the 1928 presidential campaign, the notoriously racist Democratic Governor Theodore Bilbo, accused Republican candidate Herbert Hoover had danced with Booze, a “negress”, on the Mound Bayou train platform while he was Secretary of Commerce, during a brief stop as coordinator of Mississippi flood relief in 1927. Booze called the statement “ridiculous" adding that "I am upwards of 50 years of age, a consistent member of the Methodist church and do not dance. I have no idea whether Mr. Hoover dances or not”.

In her capacity as a member of the Republican National Committee, Booze also she did not hesitate to speak out about President Hoover's appointments. She led an ultimately successful campaign against three presidential nominees: Lester G. Fant (for district attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi), Edwin W. Holmes (for Circuit Court of Appeals) and B.B. Montgomery (for federal marshal for the Northern District of Mississippi) because of allegedly racist actions and comments. In the case of Montgomery, she worked in close cooperation with the NAACP and pro-civil rights senators to promote a successful filibuster against the nomination. Despite her criticism of Hoover, she supported him for reelection and was instrumental in getting him the overwhelming majority of the vote of Mound Bayou's residents in 1932.