William_Massingale
William Massingale
Missouri politician
William Alexander Massingale was a state legislator in Missouri. He served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1947-1948. He lived in St. Louis.[1]
Massingale was elected to the new eleventh district of the Missouri House of Representatives as a Democrat in the 1946 election beating Republican Peter Ferrara.[2]
In January 1948, he introduced a bill to make racial discrimination in public places a punishable offence.[3]
He and a driver were arrested for using a vehicle-mounted sound system to campaign in violation of a city ordinance. Massingale was described as a Republican who switched to the Democrats after being elected and then became a Progressive when running for re-election.[4] After his unsuccessful campaign he was part of a delegation that lobbied mayor Aloys P. Kaufmann to support an anti-segregation bill.[5]
He was described as an elevator operator and accused of being a Communist in testimony.[6]