Bergmark, Jean B

Description

Encyclopedia article about Grace Towns Hamilton, the first African American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly and also the first female of her race in the Deep South to hold a public office of such consequence. She was among eight African Americans sent to the state legislature in a special election in June 1965; they were the first to enter the lower house since the end of Reconstruction. Hamilton represented her district in mid-Atlanta continuously for the next eighteen years, becoming known to her peers as "the most effective woman legislator the state has ever had." She attended Atlanta University and Ohio State University. She worked for the Atlanta Urban League.The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

Record Contributed By

New Georgia Encyclopedia

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia