She was actively opposed to a Federal mandate giving women the right to vote, and believed in the supremacy of the white race.

Together with the help and influence of the Bankhead family, he wrote the legislation that was signed by Governor Samford, and was named the agency's first director on March 2, 1901.

When the New Deal Federal Writers' Project worked on the state's history, Owen meticulously supervised and edited the output.

As ADAH director, Owen was helping coordinate the design of an Alabama coat of arms, and felt the state needed a motto more representative of Alabamians.

The words she selected were inspired by An Ode in Imitation of Alcaeus, written in 1781 by Sir William Jones.

[7][8][9] Owen was the organizer and head of the Southern Anti-Suffrage Association, opposed to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Owen was additionally head of the Woman's Anti-Ratification League, an organization that stated its position on ratification opposition as based in white supremacy.

[11] Marie Bankhead Owen died at a rest home in Selma on March 1, 1958, aged 88, and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Alabama.