Georgia Women of Achievement

The Georgia Women of Achievement (GWA) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Georgia for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. The concept was first proposed by Rosalynn Carter in 1988. The first induction was in 1992 at Wesleyan College, and has continued annually. The induction ceremonies are held each year during March, designated as Women's History Month. The organization consists of a Board of Trustees and a Board of Selections.[1] Nominees must have been dead no less than ten years. Georgians, or those associated with Georgia, are selected based on the individual's impact on society. Nominations are proposed through documentation and an online nomination form, and must be submitted prior to October of any given year. GWA has traveling exhibits and speakers available upon request.[2]

Inductees edit

Georgia Women of Achievement
NameImageBirth–DeathYearArea of achievementRef(s)
2024
2024
2024
2024
Beatrice Hirsch Haas2024Fundraising Consultant[3]
Adele Hunt Logan(1861-1865)2024African American teacher and suffragist[4]
Valeria Murphey2024
Elizabeth "Bessie" Tift2024
Phyllis Jenkins Barrow(1920–2009)2023WWII Women's Army Corps, Executive Officer of the European Order of Battle Branch in Army Intelligence at the Pentagon, Chairwoman Athens Salvation Army Advisory Board[5]
Alice Coachman(1923–2014)2023First black woman to win an Olympic gold medal[6]
Luck Flanders Gambrell(1930–2015)2023Philanthropist[7]
Dorothy Rogers Tilly(1883–1970)2023American civil rights activist[8]
Lizzie Lurline Collier(1893–1986)2022Educator, civil servant.[9][10]
Josephine Fields Sanders(1895–1975)2022Musician, civic leader[11][10]
Hedwig "Hedy" Grace West(1938–2005)2022Musician[12][10]
Josephine Wilkins (1893–1977)2022Social activist, president of the Georgia State League of Women Voters[10]
Ruby Maude Anderson(1893–1977)2021Educator[13]
Mary Givens Bryan(1910–1964)2021Archivist[14]
Laura Pope Forester(1873–1953)2021Folk artist[15]
Allie Murray Smith(1905–2000)2021International ambassador; mother of Rosalynn Carter[16]
Clarice Cross Bagwell(1914–2001)2020Educator[17]
Katharine DuPre Lumpkin(1897–1988)2020Author and educator[17]
Juanita Marsh(1926–2013)2020One of the first women judges in Georgia[17]
Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright(1924–2002)2020Land conservation and environmentalism[17]
Leila Alice Daughtry Denmark(1898–2012)2019Pioneering pediatrician, supercentenarian[18]
Mary Dorothy Lyndon(1877–1924)2019First female graduate from the University of Georgia in 1914[18]
Ludie Clay Andrews(1875–1969)2018First African-American registered nurse in Georgia. Founder of the Grady Municipal Training School of Colored Nurses[19]
Susie Baker King Taylor (1848–1912)2018Nurse and educator, first African-American Army nurse, wrote and self-published a memoir of her Civil War experiences.[19]
Mamie George S. Williams(1872–1951)2018First African-American woman on the National Committee of the Republican Party. First woman to speak from the floor at the National Republican Convention.[19]
Carolyn McKenzie Carter(1919–2010)2017First woman photojournalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution[20]
Clermont Huger Lee(1914–2006)2017One of Georgia's first female landscape architects[20]
Lucile Nix(1903–1968)2017First library head for the state of Georgia[20]
Sarah Harper Heard (1853–1919)2016Founder of a traveling library system[21]
Ellamae Ellis League(1899–1991)2016Architect[21]
Katie Hall Underwood(1884–1977)2016Midwife[21]
Allie Carroll Hart(1913–2003)2015Worked to preserve government records and photographs; established the Georgia Archives Institute for professional development; helped create the Southeast Archives and Records Conference; Faithful Service Award 1971 from Gov. Jimmy Carter, Outstanding Achievement Award from the Georgia Trust in 1997 and 2000, Brenau University Alumni Hall of Fame 2002[22][23]
Frances Freeborn Pauley(1905–2003)2015League of Women Voters; President of the DeKalb League; Georgia League President; Executive Director of the Georgia Council on Human Relations; activist with the Office of Civil Rights who worked to implement the Civil Rights Act of 1964[23]
Nell Kendall Hodgson Woodruff(1892–1968)2015American Red Cross; volunteer; first female member of the Emory Hospital Administration Committee; Eisenhower appointee to attend the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland; created the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing[23]
Rebecca Stiles Taylor(1879–1958)2014First president of the Savannah chapter of the National Association of Colored Women[24]
Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas(1834–1907)2014Memoirist[25][24]
Bazoline Estelle Usher (1885–1992)2014Atlanta's first Supervisor of Negro Schools[24]
Henrietta Stanley Dull(1863–1964)2013Caterer, journalist, author (as S. R. Dull) of Southern Cooking[26]
Mary Gregory Jewett(1908–1976)2013Founder and first President of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation[27]
Lollie Belle Moore Wylie(1858–1923)2013Writer[28]
Sarah Randolph Bailey(1885–1972)2012Educator who organized the YWCA-sponsored Girl Reserves for African-American girls[29]
Ethel Harpst(1883–1967)2012Founder of the Ethel Harpst Home for children[30]
Beulah Rucker Oliver (1888–1963)2012Educator[31]
Lillian Gordy Carter (1898–1983)2011Mother of President Jimmy Carter; Peace Corps worker; nurse; businesswoman[32]
Mary Francis Hill Coley(1900–1966)2011Midwife, subject of All My Babies[33]
May duBignon Stiles Howard(1894–1983)2011Health care[34]
Mary Ann Lipscomb(1848–1918)2010Educator[35]
Celestine Sibley (1914–1999)2010Journalist[36]
Madrid Williams(1911–1993)2010First female president of the National Association of Bar Executives[37]
Caroline Pafford Miller(1903–1992)2009Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1934 for her first novel, Lamb in His Bosom, the first Georgian to win the Pulitzer for Fiction.[38]
Harriet Powers (1837–1910)2009Quilt maker, creator of the Bible Quilt now in the possession of the National Museum of American History[39]
Jane Hurt Yarn(1924–1995)2009Environmentalist, conservationist[40]
Elfrida De Renne Barrow(1884–1970)2008Author, poet[41]
Amilee Chastain Graves(1910–1983)2008Publisher; first woman to hold elected office in Habersham County[42]
Susan Dowdell Myrick (1893–1978)2008Journalist, technical advisor for Gone with the Wind movie[43]
Margaret O. Bynum(1921–1982)2007Educator[44]
Edith Lenora Foster(1906–1996)2007Librarian, writer, historian[45]
Helen Douglas Mankin (1894–1956)2007First woman elected to the United States Congress from Georgia[46]
Sara Branham Matthews (1888–1962)2007Scientist who discovered a treatment for spinal meningitis[47]
Eliza Frances (Fanny) Andrews (1840–1931)2006Botanist[48]
Grace Towns Hamilton(1907–1992)2006First African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly[49]
Sarah Porter Hillhouse(1763–1831)2006First woman editor and printer in Georgia[50]
Alice Woodby McKane (1865–1948)2005First female doctor in Savannah[51]
Nina Anderson Pape(1869–1944)2005Educator[52]
Jeannette Pickering Rankin (1880–1973)2005First woman elected to the United States House of Representatives[53]
Mathilda Beasley(1832–1903)2004Former slave, Georgia's first African-American Catholic nun[54]
Louise Frederick Hays(1881–1951)2004Historian, director Georgia Department of Archives and History[55]
Helen Dortch Longstreet (1863–1962)2004Social activist[56]
Sarah McLendon Murphy(1892–1954)2004Children's activist[57]
Emily Barnelia Woodward (1885–1970)2004Journalist[58]
Madeleine Kiker Anthony(1903–1989)2003Historic preservationist who helped save the old courthouse in Dahlonega, Georgia, now the Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site[59]
Helena Maud Brown Cobb(1869–1922)2003Missionary, educator[60]
Julia Lester Dillon(1871–1959)2003Landscape architect[61]
Leila Ross Wilburn(1885–1967)2003Georgia's first registered female architect[62]
Wessie Gertrude Connell(1915–1987)2002Librarian[63]
Lula Dobbs McEachern (1874–1949)2002Educator, missionary, philanthropist[64]
Alice Harrell Strickland(1859–1947)2002Georgia's first woman mayor[65]
Julia L. Coleman(1889–1973)2001Educator[66]
Catherine Evans Whitener(1880–1964)2001Revived the textile art of tufting into a profitable business[67]
Sallie Ellis Davis(1877–1950)2000Educator[68]
Laura Askew Haygood(1845–1900)2000Educator, missionary[69]
Ellen Louise Axson Wilson (1860–1914)2000First Lady of the United States, first wife of President Woodrow Wilson[70]
Moina Belle Michael (1869–1944)1999Originated the idea of using poppies to remember the war dead; honored with a United States postage stamp in 1948[71]
Lillian Eugenia Smith (1897–1966)1999Author of Strange Fruit, a 1944 novel about interracial love[72]
Lettie Pate Evans (1872–1953)1998Philanthropist, on board of directors of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co.[73]
Julia Collier Harris (1885–1967)1998Journalist, civic leader, editor[74]
Rhoda Kaufman(1888–1956)1998Social activist[75]
Carrie Steele Logan (1829–1900)1998Founded Carrie Steele Orphans' Home[76]
Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835–1930)1997First woman to serve in the United States Senate; women's rights advocate[77]
Mary Ann Harris Gay (1829–1918)1997Author[78]
Nancy Morgan Hart (1735–1830)1997Namesake of Hart County; frontier woman, American patriot, spy for the colonial army during the American War of Independence[79]
Lucy Barrow McIntire(1886–1975)1997Civic activist[80]
Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson (1860–1942)1996First Lady of Georgia, wife of Governor William Yates Atkinson; proponent of a state-supported college for women[81]
Nellie Peters Black (1851–1919)1996Women's issues organizer and activist[82]
Ellen Smith Craft (1826–1891)1996Escaped slave, educator[83]
Corra Mae White Harris (1869–1935)1996Author[84]
Lugenia Burns Hope(1871–1947)1996Social reformer

[85]

Selena Sloan Butler (1872–1964)1995Founder of first African-American PTA[86]
Anna Colquitt Hunter(1892–1985)1995Historic preservationist[87]
Hazel Jane Raines(1916–1956)1995First woman in Georgia to earn a pilot's license (private license, and commercial license with Eastern Air Lines), stunt pilot, Lieutenant of Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II, flew with the (British) Air Transport Auxiliary, trained Brazilian air students, recalled into active duty to fly in the Korean War, inducted into Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame[88][89]
Julia Flisch(1861–1941)1994Journalist, women's rights advocate, educator[90]
Carson McCullers (1917–1967)1994Author[91]
Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949)1994Author of Gone with the Wind[92]
Ruth Hartley Mosley(1886–1975)1994Philanthropist[93]
Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman(1794–1885)1994Founder of the first public high school for girls in Augusta[94]
Dicksie Bradley Bandy(1890–1971)1993Philanthropist, businesswoman, campaigned to restore the historic Cherokee Chief Vann House Historic Site[95]
Mary Musgrove Bosomworth(1700–1765)1993Creek Indian woman who served as an interpreter for James Oglethorpe[96]
Cassandra Pickett Durham(1824–1885)1993First woman in Georgia to earn a doctor of medicine degree[97]
Viola Ross Napier (1881–1962)1993First woman member Georgia House of Representatives, first woman lawyer to argue before Georgia Supreme Court[98]
Gertrude Pridgett "Ma" Rainey (1886–1939)1993Blues singer[99]
Martha McChesney Berry (1866–1942)1992Founder of Berry College[100]
Lucy Craft Laney (1854–1933)1992Educator, hospital administrator[101]
Juliette Gordon Low (1860–1927)1992Founder of Girl Scouts of the USA[102]
Flannery O'Connor (1925–1964)1992Author[103]

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Further information edit

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