{{Short description|American politician (1933–1989)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Melba Till Allen |image = Melba Till Allen leaving courthouse (cropped).png |caption = Allen in 1978 |office1 = 34th Treasurer of Alabama |governor1 = George Wallace |term_start1 = January 21, 1975 |term_end1 = June 8, 1978 |predecessor1 = Agnes Baggett |successor1 = Annie Laurie Gunter |office2 = Auditor of Alabama |governor2 = Lurleen Wallace<br>Albert Brewer<br>George Wallace |term_start2 = January 17, 1967 |term_end2 = January 21, 1975 |predecessor2 = Bettye Frink |successor2 = Bettye Frink |birth_name = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|3|3}} |birth_place = Butler County, Alabama |death_date = {{Death date and age|1989|10|20|1933|3|3}} |death_place = Montgomery, Alabama |party = Democratic }}

'''Melba Till Allen''' (March 3, 1933 – October 20, 1989) was an American politician who served as the Auditor of Alabama from 1967 to 1975 and as the Treasurer of Alabama from 1975 to 1978.<ref>{{cite news|last=Berry |first=John F. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1978/05/28/alabamas-funds-scandal/a73ef38c-739b-44b5-b856-98badd534d83/ |title=Alabama's Funds Scandal |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1978-05-28 |accessdate=2019-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/athens-news-courier-jun-08-1978-p-3/ |title=Athens News Courier Newspaper Archives, Jun 8, 1978, p. 3 |publisher=Newspaperarchive.com |date=1978-06-08 |accessdate=2019-04-04}}</ref> In 1972, she challenged incumbent Senator John Sparkman in the Democratic primary; she earned 29.48% of the vote and nearly forced Sparkman into a run-off, but was defeated.<ref>{{cite web |title= AL US Senate - D Primary |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=113007 |website=OurCampaigns |access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref>

Allen was convicted in 1978 of using her office to obtain favorable bank loans for several personal businesses including a religious theme park. She failed to disclose these business ventures and a full disclosure of her personal finances. She was sentenced to six years in jail and three and a half years of probation.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com] | May 28, 1978 | Alabama's Funds Scandal | John F. Berry | [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1978/05/28/alabamas-funds-scandal/a73ef38c-739b-44b5-b856-98badd534d83/]</ref><ref>{{cite news | publisher = law.justia.com | date = December 18, 1979 | title = Melba Till ALLEN v. STATE, 3 Div. 949, 382 So. 2d 11 (1979) | author = Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama | url = https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/court-of-appeals-criminal/1979/382-so-2d-11-0.html }}</ref>

She died of cancer on October 20, 1989, in Montgomery, Alabama at age 56.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/24/obituaries/melba-till-allen-ex-alabama-official-56.html |title=Melba Till Allen, Ex-Alabama Official, 56 |work=The New York Times |date=1989-10-24 |accessdate=2019-04-04}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Bettye Frink}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for State Auditor of Alabama|years=1966, 1970}} {{s-aft|after=Bettye Frink}} {{s-bef|before=Agnes Baggett}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Alabama State Treasurer|years=1974}} {{s-aft|after=Annie Laurie Gunter}} {{s-end}}

{{ALStateAuditors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Melba Till}} Category:1933 births Category:1989 deaths Category:Deaths from cancer in Alabama Category:State auditors of Alabama Category:State treasurers of Alabama Category:Alabama Democrats Category:Women state constitutional officers of Alabama Category:People from Butler County, Alabama Category:20th-century Alabama politicians Category:Alabama politicians convicted of crimes