UNTY
H
T FORSY F O Y CIT
O ROE C & MON
of
y r o t S r He rs 200 Yea
R
G
TOU & E D UI
History
w e i v r Ove The position of women in society has vastly changed in the past two centuries. At the time of the establishment of Monroe County in 1821 and the city of Forsyth in 1823, women were occupied with their roles as mothers and wives, under the dominion of their husbands or fathers. In the case of enslaved women, they were forced workers at the command of others. Women have played an important role in our history even though unconscious bias and cultural stereotypes may have obscured the official record. Sources on the lives of enslaved women in Monroe County are elusive. Advertisements for those who ran away constitute one primary source. In 1827, one of those advertisements referred to a woman simply as “Amanda,” who had run away from Allen Cochran. He described her as “a sensible girl and speaks very correct and intelligent.” He thought someone in Forsyth may have given her a pass, a document required of all enslaved persons when they were away from their owners or that she might pass herself off as a free person of color. When women gathered at Seneca Falls in 1848, launching the suffrage movement for white women (no black women were in attendance), higher-education institutions were still closed to women. William Clay Wilkes led the establishment of Monroe Female College, later Tift College, which attracted not only local women but also others who were able to reach Forsyth because of the railroad. The Montpelier Institute, founded by Episcopal Bishop Stephen Elliott with support from well-heeled Episcopalians, struggled to achieve its goals and eventually closed in 1855. Other schools for women, such as John Darby’s in Culloden, were short-lived. Darby’s school distinguished itself for its emphasis upon the sciences as a part of a woman’s education and Darby’s insistence on laboratory work in his chemistry classes. 2
The period of the Civil War, 1861-1865, opened new opportunities for white women in Forsyth and the county. They organized in support of the war effort. They assumed responsibility for farm management. They became involved in auxiliary service at the various hospitals that the Army of Tennessee established here in 1863-1865. Irish- born Honora Sweeney, the only woman buried in Forsyth’s Confederate Cemetery, gained legendary fame when she died while tending soldiers. At times, owners compelled their slaves, such as Martha Peebles Young, to assist in nursing wounded soldiers. After the Civil War, there were more opportunities for women to become engaged in business, especially those such as millinery shops that catered to the ladies’ trade. An astute businesswoman, “Aunt Julia” Simmons, famous African American fortune teller and mystic, held court on College Street for those who came far and near to have her reveal the answers to their problems. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries women organized various groups, like the Ladies Memorial Association, a predecessor to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Daughters of Benevolence, which provided for the financial needs of its members. In 1921, a Women’s Club was established and they started a public library. These groups gave women the opportunity to exercise leadership and assert themselves beyond their households.
“Aunt Julia” Simmo ns 3
Tift Students Teach
Sunday School
At the Forsyth Baptist Church, women organized the Ladies Sewing Society, which morphed in 1898 into the Woman’s Missionary Society. Women at the Forsyth Methodist Church in 1878 also organized a Missionary Society. Its members financially supported the evangelical activities of their society with money-making projects involving quilting or selling eggs that “missionary hens” produced. By the end of the 19th century women found jobs in the textile factories being established in Juliette and Forsyth. Working in the mills involved long hours and poor pay but it did provide income and other benefits such as housing, churches, schools, and in the case of the Juliette Milling Company, medical care. Later both African American and white women, employed in the local textile mills, realized the disadvantageous position they were in. However, efforts led by Doris Ogletree to unionize failed. Students from the women’s college found a special role for themselves working with children in the Forsyth mill villages, teaching Sunday school. For Leila Daughtry Denmark, a future pediatrician, working with the mill children revealed problems she had never encountered, and she resolved to find ways, through medicine, to help. Out of the work of one student, Pearl Bigler, a future Baptist missionary in Brazil, the Trio Baptist, later Second Baptist Church, was founded. In the 20th century women, often out of necessity, emerged from the home into the workplace, finding roles for themselves that were socially acceptable. Some, such as Lizzie Brantley 4
and Carrie Battle, gained a wide-spread reputation for their skills as midwives. Betty and Mollie Tyler found their calling in caring for boys and girls needing a home. Out of their house on Pea Ridge Road, Hephzibah Children’s Home, 1900-2018, developed. Still others, finding life difficult in the American South, left in the Great Migration, 1910-1970, seeking employment in the North, Mid-west, and Western states. Women’s visibility as wage earners during the second Industrial Revolution was precedent setting and has enduring relevance in our lives today. Women worked for lower wages than men and often started working as children. Women during this time also had to be the caretaker of the house, so they might have worked all day and night to keep up their daily routine. These poor working conditions, long hours, and exploitation were the impetus for many of today’s labor laws.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THIS GUIDE
Lizzie Brantley
The following short biographies, timeline, and historical site notes are intended to be a starting point for exploring 200 years of womens history in Forsyth and Monroe County. These are the legacies of women who have inspired us by breaking the rules, raising their voices, and changing the way we think about ourselves, about women, and the role they’ve played in shaping our world. We want to thank the friends and families of those included and especially the members of the committee: Ralph Bass, Herbert Gantt, Clarise Taylor Durden, Winifred Berry, and Gilda Stanbery. Thank you to the Monroe County Historical Society & Museum, and the Hubbard Museum & Cultural Center for sharing your archives. This project is a celebration of the city of Forsyth’s Bicentennial (1823-2023). It is funded by grants from the Georgia Humanities, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development and General Assembly, and the City of Forsyth Convention & Visitors Bureau. 5
Political changes in the 20th century had a profound impact, beginning with the 19th amendment to the U. S. Constitution and King vs. Chapman et al, which ended the white-only party primary. When the 19th amendment was passed, women registered to vote. Katherine Boulware Sutton, the first woman in the county to seek public office, ran in 1928 for county school superintendent. She failed in that bid but was successful in the next election, serving 13 years as superintendent. Linda Arthur became the county’s first female county commissioner in 1981 and Aretha Watts Neal became the first female on Forsyth City Council in 1986. Food preparation had long been the domain of women. In the late 19th century, greater precision came to cooking with the publication of Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook. Henrietta Stanley Dull, who taught at Bessie Tift, prepared her own set of recipes in the classic Southern Cooking. Rosemary King Evans continued that tradition with her publication of family recipes, Back-Home Cooking, which includes her excellent recipe on how to prepare possum. When Mattie Lou Blount returned to Forsyth to work as an insurance agent, she regaled her friends with stories of bringing these traditions of Southern cooking to the table of J. P. Morgan in Manhattan. The establishment, in Forsyth, of the State Teachers and Agricultural College [STAC] in 1931, was on the foundation of William M. Hubbard’s Normal and Industrial School. STAC educated many African American women for teaching in classrooms all over Georgia. After Monroe Female College burned in 1879, it was revived due to its association with the Georgia Baptist Convention and with an infusion of cash from Henry H. Tift, the husband of an alumna, Bessie Willingham Tift. Later the trustees changed the name of the school to Bessie Tift College in her honor. New Deal programs concerned with the problems of the Great Depression opened new opportunities for women in the 1930s. Hattie Mae Maynard Wilder moved from being a housewife to managing the local welfare office, created to provide relief to eligible Monroe County citizens. She established the foundation of what became the local Department of Family and Children Services. With the encouragement of county extension agents, women organized home demonstration clubs throughout the county where they learned better methods of food preparation, home economics, 6
Louise Melton
Maria Vedder
and child rearing. After World War II, these women built the Monroe County Club House, a facility that still functions 70 years later as a community meeting place. World War II profoundly affected gender roles as men were drafted into military service creating vacancies that women filled in factories, offices, and shops. Women, such as Louise Benson (Melton), enlisted in military service, as the government saw the potential of organized women in the war effort. Much later in 1998, Maria Vedder became the first female from Monroe County to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. In the 1950’s, some Forsyth women became involved in civil rights. In a highly contentious move, they demanded that an oppositional city council change an ordinance so that African Americans could attend, although in a segregated balcony, movies at the Rose Theater. After a referendum, the council agreed. 7
More important were civil rights developments which followed after the arrest of Jibby Watts and Thelma Hargrove in 1973 over paying for gasoline. Their arrests led to demonstrations. Rita Samuels, as representative of Governor Jimmy Carter’s Council on Human Relations, intervened. Out of this crisis came the organization of a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later a chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). A class action suit brought in part by Mildred Harvey and others ultimately resulted in a change to the way county commissioners are elected from county-wide to district representation. In the 1970s, Clara Pippin, Mableann Archer, and Lareeta Cater Davis led in the creation of Community Care Council, a local philanthropic organization that provides emergency economic assistance to needy families. Begun in a small house on North Lee Street, it is now an operation that generates, through its Circle of Care thrift store, well over $100,000 annually. The 20th century witnessed the emergence of women into businesses. In downtown Forsyth, Nagela Joseph worked with her husband Louis at Joseph’s Department Store, managing it after his death. Had it not been for the tireless efforts of Bessie Edelson Bloom, her husband testified, Bloom’s would not have been the store it became. Jeanne Marie Antonio worked with her husband in Forsyth’s Royal Palm Cafe, catering particularly to the tourist trade on Highway 41. Geneva S. Crutchfield
Switch Board Operators
8
operated innumerable restaurants. Minnie Wright operated Wright’s Funeral Home after her husband’s death. Over the years, the roles of women have changed and evolved. Not all women had the same experience but there is intersectionality. Women now bear, at a later age, a smaller number of children than they did in an agrarian society. Women are now literate and pursue higher education, creating an opportunity for independence and employment outside of the home. As increasing numbers of women entered the workplace, childcare facilities developed. Men going off to war necessitated women stepping in to fill jobs men traditionally held. As the voice of women grew, laws around voting, business, domestic violence, equal rights, discrimination, etc. were enacted. Women’s entry into the workplace necessitated that men take on household responsibilities and child rearing; although, the invisible labor of home and children remains primarily the women’s responsibility. As commonly said, “A man can work from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.” Women continue to disproportionately work in part-time positions and with lower wages than men. They are often employed in the caring and teaching fields. There is, however, an increase of women in such male-dominated sectors as politics, church leadership, law, and the sciences, including medicine. Many women now own their own businesses, and some occupy senior management positions. Women such as Forsyth’s City Manager Janice L. Hall and Culloden’s Mayor Lynn C. Miller hold top leadership roles in local government. Recognizing the achievements of women in all facets of life – science, religion, community, government, literature, art, sports, medicine – has a huge impact on the development of self-respect and new opportunities for at least half the human population.
9
e n i l e Tim
ents
nt Ev a c fi i n g i of S
1776
Future First Lady Abigail Adams instructed her husband who was a member at the Continental Congress to “remember the ladies,” reminding him that “all men would become tyrants if they could”
1821
Monroe County formed by an act of Georgia legislature
1823
City of Forsyth was incorporated
1848
Seneca Falls Convention, the first Women’s Rights Convention, held in New York with 300 attendees
1849
Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to graduate medical school and become a doctor
1849 1851
Monroe Female College established in Forsyth
1869
Wyoming territory passed U.S.’s first women’s suffrage law, which granted women the right to vote and hold office
1869
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association
1887
City of Culloden was incorporated
1907
Monroe Female College renamed Bessie Tift College
1911
Dr. Luetta Sams Boddie first female registered physician in Monroe County
1916
Margaret Sanger opened first birth control clinic in U.S.
1917
Jeanette Rankin sworn in as first woman elected to U.S. Congress
1920
Ratification of the 19th amendment, “the right…to vote shall not be denied or abridged...on account of sex”
Sojourner Truth (freed woman) delivered her famous “Ain’t I A Woman” speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio
1923 Graduates - State Agricul ture & Mechanical School
1920
Lucy Browning Hungerford was the first woman to register to vote in Monroe County
1926
Dr. Luetta Boddie was the first African American woman to register to vote in Monroe County
1928
Katherine B. Sutton first woman to run for elected office in Monroe County and was elected school superintendent in 1932
1932
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic
1948
Alice D. Vaughn first female Superior Court clerk
1955
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama
1957
Margaret Smith became first female county clerk for Monroe County
1960
FDA approved first commercially produced birth control pill in the world
1963
President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination
1964
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, banning employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, or sex
1966
Betty Freidan helped found the National Organization for Women (NOW)
1972
President Richard Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments stating, “No person shall…be denied, excluded for participation in, or be subjected to discrimination from any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” 11
e n i l e Tim
ents
nt Ev a c fi i n g i of S
1973
Roe v. Wade a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion
1973
In the Battle of the Sexes tennis great Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets during an exhibition match
1981
Linda Arthur was elected first female Monroe County commissioner
1981
Sandra Day O’Conner was sworn in as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court
1983
Sally Ride became the first woman in space on the Space Shuttle Challenger
1984
Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman vice president nominee by a major political party
1986
Aretha Watts Neal first female elected to Forsyth City Council and first female to serve as Mayor Pro Tem
1993
Janet Reno was sworn in as the first female Attorney General of the United States
1993
President Bill Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as the second woman in the U.S. Supreme Court, where she championed equality and social justice
Aretha Watts Neal 12
1994
President Bill Clinton signed the Violence Against Women Act, notable for calling attention to the issues of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking
1995
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered the speech, Women’s Rights Are Human Rights, to the United Nations
1997
Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the first female U.S. Secretary of State
2007
Nancy Pelosi became the first female Speaker of the U.S. House
2013
U.S. military removed the ban against women serving in combat positions
2015
Janice L. Hall appointed first City Manager of Forsyth
2016
Hillary Rodham Clinton, first woman to receive presidential nomination by a major political party
2017
Anita S. Buice appointed first female Monroe County Manager
2017
Lynn C. Miller was first elected female Mayor of Culloden
2021
Kamala Harris sworn in as the first woman and first woman of color Vice President of the U.S.
2022
Tammy Marion was appointed first female principal of Mary Persons High School
2022
U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for other landmark rulings to be reconsidered, including established rights to contraception access, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage
Janice L. Hall
13
p a M
s e t i S c i r o of Hist Tour y b e v i Dr
1
2
Jo Ann Gibson Robinson marker 260 Norwood St. (US Hwy 341), Culloden William Hubbard Complex 500 GA Hwy 83 South (MLK Jr. Dr.)
3
Dr. Luetta Sams Boddie’s office upstairs 30 E. Johnston St.
4
Tift College Tift College Dr.
5
Montpelier Institute GA Hwy 74 – between Lower Simmons and Maynard Mill Roads
6
Mattie Lou Blount House 106 Blount St.
7
8
9
Childhood Home of Jane Cary Chapman Peck 189 W. Johnston St.
10
Pine Crest School 57 Brooklyn Ave. (near Monroe County Fine Arts Center)
11
Cora Anderson Hill Home 208 Indian Springs Dr.
12
Great Hill Place 5327 US Hwy 41 South, Bolingbroke
13
Agnes Cochran Bramblett Home & Writing Cabin 160 Indian Springs Dr.
14
Rubye James Watts Senior Center 515 MLK Jr. Dr.
15
Katherine B. Sutton Elementary School 1315 GA Hwy 83
Theodosia “Dosia” Head Brooks home 219 Brooklyn Ave. Happy Haven Daycare Center 30 Zellner St.
Private homes not open to the public 14
83
75
Ex it
187
11 13 9
4
3
41
10
83
7
42
14 6
2 8
15
12
1
5
15
e l p o Pe e h t f o s e i r S to
Mattie Lee Battle (1902-1988)
Battle came to Forsyth to assist Henry Curry in the medical care of his wife. After his death in 1941, Battle bought his store and the home from the estate for $450.00. The store, now demolished, became not only a landmark on Culloden Road (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), but also a community gathering place. Battle allowed families to buy groceries on credit, knowing some could not repay her. One day Police Chief Paul Wilson came to arrest Battle for selling sugar to bootleggers. Her neighbor, Louise Gantt, marched across the road and told Chief Wilson that Battle was not about to be arrested for trying to feed her family. If he wanted to arrest someone, he should arrest those bootleggers. Chief Wilson did not arrest Battle. Gantt’s grandson, Herbert Gantt, witnessed the exchange with the Police Chief, and credits that experience as his inspiration to become a Civil Rights advocate.
Dr. Luetta Sams Boddie (1885-1965)
Dr. Boddie and her husband practiced medicine from 19061943 in Forsyth. She provided medical care to white and African American residents of Monroe County, making home calls at all hours, over muddy unpaved roads. Boddie had a busy practice, but was also active in St. James Baptist Church, school, and community affairs. She taught summer school health classes at State Teachers & Agriculture College She was a Secretary of the 16
Georgia State Medical Society and member of the National Medical Association. During her last 20 years, she lived in Detroit with one of her sons, where she assisted him in his medical practice.
Agnes Cochran Bramblett (1886-1979) Born on the site where Wesleyan College in Macon now stands, the first woman Poet Laureate of Georgia (1963-1973) first learned about poetry at her father’s knee. He read her poetry from the Atlanta Constitution. Bramblett vowed, “Someday I’ll write poems like these, and they’ll come out in the paper”. At age seven her first published poem “The Exchange” challenged readers to exchange kind thoughts, ending with these lines: If you really love somebody Why don’t you tell them so? Then they will say: ‘I love you, too’ And our exchange will grow. Her first book of poetry was published in 1928. Other published works followed, to include books of poetry, song lyrics, a children’s book, and a novel. Her first published poem as Poet Laureate, “Tribute to the Late President,” was featured in the Atlanta Constitution on the day of President John F. Kennedy’s funeral. Not only was Bramblett a prolific writer but she was also a gifted speaker sharing her love of poetry with adults and school children. Forsyth United Methodist Church enjoyed her talents for more than 20 years as an adult Sunday School teacher and as a leader of weekly Bible studies. Bramblett resigned from her Poet Laureate duties in 1973, when her health prevented her from traveling.
17
Theodosia ’Dosia’ Head Brooks (1864-1931) Brooks was a patriot and an activist. Her patriotism led her to write a book, Our Flag, explaining the history and meaning of the American flag. She inaugurated the movement to place an American flag in all Georgia public schools. As an activist, Brooks served as State Chairman of the Beautification of Highways, especially the Dixie Highway (GA Hwy 41) which passed in front of her home. Her attempts to pass a bill prohibiting billboards along Georgia’s state highways failed due to big business opposition. Brooks, a dedicated member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of the American Revolution, founded the James Monroe Chapter (DAR) in Forsyth. Brooks was honored by the Georgia Legislature for her outstanding patriotic and civic work. Her dying wish was for her beautiful home, Brooklyn Villa, to become a home for “gentlewomen”. Today it remains in the family.
Helena Maud Brown Cobb (1869-1922) Cobb, a native of Monroe County, was an educator, missionary worker, editor, writer, and feminist at a time when African Americans were denied many basic human rights. Her vision was to create an educational oasis for black youth, combining education with Christian leadership and living. She was widely known as an influential female African American educator. In 1909, the Helena B. Cobb Institute opened in Barnesville, Georgia, with an enrollment of 50 students and five teachers. By 1916, the school had 183 students, 33 of whom were boarders. In 1906, the Colored Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) General Conference adopted the Women’s Missionary Age as the official publication of its missionary movement, with Cobb as its editor-in-chief. She frequently wrote articles and gave lectures for women’s causes. Her personal charm, stately image and
18
intelligent foresight made her one of the most influential women in the C.M.E. church. She was inducted into the Georgia Woman of Achievement in 2003.
Sarah Lois Wadley Burt (1886-1968) Burt was a dairy farmer and philanthropist. Daughter of George Dole Wadley and the granddaughter of William M. Wadley, both presidents of Georgia railroads, Burt inherited the family farm known as Great Hill Place. After Major William G. Burt retired, they returned to the home in Bolingbroke and established a dairy farm with a herd of 200 purebred Guernsey cows. They raised all the feed and forage (except cottonseed meal) needed on their 2,000 acres. She took an active role in running the dairy operations, driving both tractors and milk trucks to keep the business going. Once when she lent the Wadley silver punch bowl for an occasion in Macon, she overheard a guest comment, “They say it belongs to an old farm woman and it’s all she has left.” Burt subsequently enjoyed referring to herself as “an old farm woman.” In her will, the “old farm woman” provided for the establishment of a scholarship fund for residents of Monroe County attending the University of Georgia. The scholarships are named in part for her son, Girout Burt, who died in combat in World War II.
19
Henrietta Stanley Dull (1863-1964) Dull taught home economics at Bessie Tift College from 1923-1925. Her interest in cooking and catering began after her husband’s illness forced her to become the family’s breadwinner. Her cooking and catering became so popular, companies such as Atlanta Gas, Macy’s, and White Lily Flour hired her to demonstrate and endorse their products. She was especially instrumental in helping Atlanta Gas Light sell their gas stoves to women afraid of this new invention. In addition to giving cooking lessons and lectures, she began a writing career. Assisted by Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, Dull wrote a weekly column “Mrs. Dull’s Cooking Lessons” for the Atlanta Journal. Her cookbook, Southern Cooking, was first published in 1928; it has been reprinted many times since. It includes her recipe for preparing and cooking possum! Possum, an easily obtained protein source, is found in rural Southern backyards. She was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement in 2013.
Annabel Matthews (1883-1960) This Culloden native spent more than a decade teaching after her graduation from Brenau College but found her niche as an attorney. In 1914, Matthews moved to Washington, D. C. to work with the income tax division of the Internal Revenue Service, a new bureau, 20
created with the recently ratified 16th amendment. She took law classes at night and was admitted to the bar in 1921. Her knowledge of tax laws resulted in her appointment as a prosecutor in the office of the solicitor of the Internal Revenue Service. In 1930, she was appointed as a judge on the United States Board of Tax Appeals. In 1948, President Truman appointed her to the Fair Employment Board of the United States Civil Service Commission. Matthews was also an ardent feminist. In 1939, she supported the nomination of Judge Florence E. Allen to the United States Supreme Court. She also once wrote a male applicant, “I have not appointed my second legal assistant, but I expect to select a woman attorney. In view of this fact, I suggest that you do not apply.”
Cora Anderson Hill (1896-1983) Hill was a social activist who supported the campaign against the sale of alcohol. In the 1950’s she was active in the successful drive to allow African Americans entrance into the Rose Theatre. Interestingly, she campaigned against the showing of a John Dillinger movie because it was too sympathetic to Dillinger. A church leader, Hill became a charter member of Christ United Methodist Church (CUMC) when it was formed after fire destroyed the Forsyth UMC. Hill was in her 70’s when she became a journalist with the Monroe County Reporter. She wrote columns on the plight of women as she had experienced it. A graduate of Brenau College (1916), Hill received the Distinguished Service to Brenau Award in 1978. She is remembered each year through the Cora Anderson Hill Award presented to the graduating senior with the highest academic average at Brenau College. This church leader and social activist once stated her tombstone should read, “She meddled as much as she could”.
21
Anne Sneed Rowland (1878-1955) Rowland and her sister Raiford began their own school in 1900. Both were accomplished teachers and far ahead of the educational ideas of that time. They built a large house next to their parents’ home and opened Pine Crest School. This was not only a school for local pupils but also for boarding students. The goals for Pine Crest were to teach student responsibility, give individual attention to students, and provide a place for children who had lost at least one parent. An unusual and innovative requirement, students were to study outdoors as much as possible. After her sister’s death in 1914, Rowland became “Miss Annie” and continued the school. During WWII, her daughter Velma Rowland McCosh returned to help her. After half a century, and with only two students, Pine Crest School closed in 1951.
Rita Jackson Samuels (1947-2018) Samuels, a native of Monroe County, was a civil and women’s rights activist. Samuels graduated from Hubbard High School in 1963. Samuels became a secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, working with all its leaders from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Fred Shuttlesworth. When Jimmy Carter was elected governor of Georgia, Samuels became the first African American woman in the state’s history to serve on the personal staff of a Georgia governor. She 22
served as Governor Carter’s Coordinator of the Governor’s Council on Human Relations. After advising Governor Carter to include prominent African Americans in the State Capitol’s portraits of great leaders, he selected her to direct and coordinate the hanging of portraits of AME Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and educator Lucy Craft Laney. When Carter was elected president, she worked in the White House in 1977 with the Community Services Administration. Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, she emerged as one of Georgia’s most determined women’s rights advocates. She was the founder and former Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition of Black Women, Inc. where she created numerous innovative programs advancing Georgia’s women and girls. She is credited with helping to launch the careers of several African American women leaders from rural counties, among them many ‘first’ mayors, commissioners, and judges. Samuels served as the Chair of the Georgia Commission on Women. She worked diligently to ensure that at least 10% of the contracts at the Atlanta airport went to women owned businesses. Governor Joe Frank Harris appointed her to the state Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission and she was the first African American to serve on the Georgia State Elections Board. She later served on the Board of the National Women’s History Museum and was selected by former First Lady Rosalyn Carter as the Rosalyn Carter Fellow at the Institute of Women’s Studies at Emory University. US Ambassador Andrew Young spoke to her tenacity, when he said that “Rita could send you to hell and you’d be glad you got there.” After Samuels’ death, the City of Atlanta commissioned David Alan Clark to create a bronze statue of her to be placed in Mosley Park.
Ruby Jane Evans Scandrett (1937-2017) Scandrett, the owner of Happy Haven Daycare Center, established in 1976, provided exemplary services to the community for over 41 years. She was dedicated to enriching the lives of young people by providing a safe and caring learning environment for babies starting at 6.5 weeks all the way to 12 years of age. Her 3,000 23
square foot learning center also provided children with two delicious hot meals each day and a nutritious snack. “Ms. Ruby” was one of the first to implement the Georgia Pre-K program. She was known for her elaborate graduation ceremonies to encourage and celebrate student achievement. Her desire to achieve made her a trailblazer and impacted thousands of children and their families. Ms. Ruby’s legacy is carried on by her family and the continued operation of Happy Haven Daycare.
Oreatha Dillard Sewell (1935-2021) A native of Forsyth, the youngest of seven children, Sewell received her high school diploma from Hubbard High School in 1953. She was an outstanding basketball player and served as co-captain of her team. She led the Tigerettes to the Fourth District tournament of Georgia Interscholastic Association finals and was the recipient of the GIA Class A Award for the 1951-52 and 1952-53 seasons. She was inducted into the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 for excellent skills in basketball during her high school years and her life’s dedication to education and discipline in the Monroe County school system. As a stay-at-home mother, Sewell was a licensed barber who cut men’s hair for 10 years, before returning to school. She received her B.S. in Education from Fort Valley State College and her M.S. in Education from Mercer University. She taught science for 10 years, before becoming the first female African American Assistant Principal at Hubbard Elementary, serving 20 years before retiring. She was a person of deep faith and was a life- long member of the St. James Baptist Church where she was a Sunday School teacher. She received the Rotary Educator of the Year Award and served on many community boards. Over six feet tall, Sewell believed in remaining stylish and looking fashionable.
24
Katherine Woodward Boulware Sutton (1885-1974) Sutton came to Forsyth when her father, a civil engineer, was working on the dam at High Falls. She found a position as a Latin and history teacher at Forsyth’s Banks Stephens Institute. Mrs. J. P. Sutton, as she then preferred to be called, was an active member of the board for the library that the Forsyth Women’s Club had established in 1922, Regent of the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter, and a Sunday School teacher. Sutton maintained her interest in education and ran for the position of county school superintendent in 1928, eight years after the ratification of the 19th amendment ensuring for women the right to vote. She was the first woman to run for an elected office in Monroe County. She was defeated – the voters having chosen Dr. T. D. Thurmond, a dentist, who was a member of a local family of 20 children. In 1932, she ran again for office and won. In 1936, Dr. Thurmond challenged Sutton, his successor, for the post, but this Southern lady decisively defeated him 1,191 to 628 votes. Sutton served as elected county school superintendent from 1932 until June 1946, during a challenging period. The Depression affected tax-support for public schools. Over the objections of rural communities, the school board moved to consolidate county schools into those located in Forsyth. The US involvement in WWII created additional challenges. An intelligent, witty woman, Sutton gained a reputation for her witticisms, such as “Don’t press the rags”. In 2009, Monroe County Board of Education named a school, Katherine B. Sutton Elementary after her.
25
Jo Ann Gibson Robinson (1912-1992) Robinson, a native of Culloden, was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement and an educator in Montgomery, Alabama. Robinson grew up on a farm and was the youngest of 12 children. Robinson graduated from Fort Valley Industrial School in 1934. Fort Valley State University named a street on campus in her honor. While a faculty member at Alabama State, Robinson planned and supervised the first day of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, after the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955. The Montgomery Improvement Association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., then seized Robinson’s tactic and brought it to a successful conclusion in 1956 with the desegregation of the Montgomery bus system. A Georgia Civil Rights Trail marker placed outside of Culloden honors her.
Annie Booth Whitehead (1914-1987) In 1907, the Negro Rural School Fund, commonly known as the Jeanes Fund, was incorporated solely for the purpose of improving educational opportunities for African American children in the South. From this legacy, in 1950, Whitehead began her career as a Jeanes 26
Supervisor and Curriculum Director. By 1964 she worked exclusively in Monroe County until her retirement in 1973. Early in her career Whitehead’s responsibilities were to ensure that primarily oneroom rural schoolhouses were functional and children were able to attend. Teachers operated with minimal resources and supplies. The consolidation of county schools into Hubbard Elementary & High School in 1955 expanded her responsibilities to include curriculum development, teacher training, student attendance and providing educational materials for all grades. Most notably, Whitehead lobbied and received the first new textbooks for students at Hubbard in 1958. She also facilitated the implementation of the first special education program for the newly consolidated Hubbard Elementary & High School.
Rubye James Watts (1921-1995) After Watts graduated from Morris Brown College in Atlanta in 1943 with a major in-Home Economics and a minor in Education, she moved to Monroe County to teach at Hubbard Training School. She also taught in Juliette and the Starr School in Culloden. At Hubbard Elementary & High School, Watts taught eighth grade science and family living. After the desegregation of schools in 1970, Watts taught special education at Mary Persons High School and retired from teaching in 1975. Watts was known for expanding her students’ experiences most notably with field trips to places like Look Out Mountain, Ruby Falls, Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Center, Stone Mountain, and Six Flags Over Georgia. Not five feet tall, Watts was a visible force in Monroe County’s political, educational, civic, social, and religious scenes as an active member of several organizations. She organized the first African American Girl Scout troop in Monroe County. She was first African American woman to run for a county commissioners’ seat in 1980. Her political interests led to her being a Georgia Silver Haired Legislator with a platform on Elder Abuse. She founded the “90-100-Year-Old Birthday Celebration” recognizing nonagenarians. 27
Because of these and many other accomplishments, the Monroe County Commissioners named the Older American Council Center, the “Rubye James Watts Older American Center”. Watts aspired to be a star and appeared in movies filmed here, such as King, Web of Deceit, and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Eleanor King Parsons (1921-2007) For over 60 years, Parsons was lovingly referred to as First Lady of St. James Baptist Church, a term of respect and endearment. Parsons was an integral part of the religious and educational fabric of the community. Parsons’ early education included Monroe County schools and the State Teachers & Agricultural College in Forsyth. She graduated from Fort Valley State College before moving to Washington D.C. to work for the Department of Defense. She and her family returned to Forsyth where her husband became the pastor of St. James Baptist Church. She was active in their Sunday School, Veterans Day, Senior Citizen’s Day, Woman’s Day program, Vacation Bible School among others. Parsons touched many lives during her 39 years as an elementary school teacher. She was known to tell her students “I have eyes in the back of my head” and they believed her!
Lucy Jim Webb (1895-1987) A native of Monroe County, Webb spent 28 years in Shanghai, where she was a Methodist missionary from 1922 to 1950. In the 1930’s, Japan invaded China creating a refugee crisis, especially 28
in Shanghai. Webb’s work with the refugees was so significant that the government of Chiang Kai-Shek, the Kuomintang, later recognized her for her relief work. After WWII, Webb returned to Shanghai, but the political situation quickly changed when the Communist government of Mao Zedong displaced the Nationalists and controlled the city. Webb stayed in Shanghai under Communist control another year before returning to the US permanently. Webb epitomizes the missionary impulse of women who have lived in Monroe County since 1839, when Mary Grant Burgess, who had taught school here, went to India as a Congregational missionary.
Louise Garrett Hubbard (1915-1989) Hubbard exhibited an aptitude for music as a young girl and was a classically trained pianist. She did her undergraduate work at Campbell College, an A.M.E. school in Jackson, MS, and received her master’s from Columbia University. In 1938, she married Samuel Hubbard and moved to Forsyth where she taught history, music, and chorus at Hubbard Elementary & High School until her retirement in 1970. Hubbard wrote the lyrics to the school’s alma mater. Her students often received the highest honors in statewide competitions. She was active in several civic and professional organizations, including the Georgia Coalition of Black Women and the Monroe County Retired Teachers Association. Hubbard founded Forsyth’s Bethune Woman’s Club. Her community service work included providing free piano lessons to those who played for their church. She was also well known for accompanying Linwood Gantt Sr. when he sang at funerals. Hubbard led a fundraiser to repair the stainedglass windows in St. Luke’s AME Church, featuring an 11-yearold Gladys Knight. An invitation to the Hubbard home always included a gathering of music and song. Today, her classroom is part of the Hubbard Museum at the William Hubbard Complex dedicated in 2021. 29
Stella Stewart Center (1878-1969) Center was an educator dedicated to improving reading instruction in the schools and taught at her alma mater, Monroe Female College. As a young woman, living in Forsyth, Center became concerned that there was no statue in town to commemorate Confederate soldiers. She formed the Monument Association, organized its fundraising activities, including editing a special edition of the Advertiser, and commissioned the young sculptor, Frederick Hibbard, to cast the statue, dedicated in 1907. Center moved to Manhattan in 1915, where she taught in the city’s schools while also being an instructor at Columbia University. For 20 years she administered the Gladys L. Persons Reading Institute of New York University, which sought the best methods for effective reading, as well as the best methodology to teach reading. She was in demand as an instructor at teacher institutes, achieving national attention for her work, and had more than 50 of her books and articles published. Her father, a local financier, was one of the white men William M. Hubbard, the African American educator, turned to for support. In 1936, when the State Teachers & Agricultural College was in desperate need of upgrading its library to maintain its standing as a college, she provided a significant quantity of books. While still in Georgia, Center established her philosophy, “It is not the amount of knowledge that he gets which determines his life, but the attitude which the pupil has toward learning.” She wanted that attitude to be positive, active, and life-long.
30
Jane Cary Chapman Peck (1932-1990) Theologian and ecumenicist, Peck was reared in Forsyth. Her mother had been deeply influenced by the ideas of the Social Gospel movement. Following her graduation from Wesleyan College and a brief service in a Methodist church, she married Robert Peck, whose career in 1971 carried the couple to Williams College in Massachusetts. There she earned her Ph. D. from Boston University and began her work with the National Council of Churches, of which she became a vice-president, serving for more than a decade. She was active in the World Council of Churches. Her perspective was global. Deeply concerned with the United States’ involvement in Vietnam, she and her husband donated natal incubators to hospitals and brought children from Vietnam for adoption. Their two youngest children were among them. In 1976, she joined the faculty of the Andover Newton Theological Seminary in Massachusetts and taught there until her death. She was a director of the Life and Peace Institute, headquartered in Upsala, Sweden, committed to the use of conflict resolution and peace-making. In 1985, her experiences in Central America influenced the National Council of Churches to pass a resolution calling on Christians in the US “carefully to consider their corporate and personal responsibilities as Christians and citizens at this time for U.S. policy” in Central America. She was accepting of the sexual orientation of gay persons. She supported, albeit unsuccessfully, the application of the LGBT affirming Metropolitan Community Church for membership in the National Council of Churches. In the last months of her life, she was a delegate to the World Council’s consultation on “Peace, Justice, and the Integrity of Creation” in Korea. From there, she went to Sweden for what proved to be her final meeting with the Life and Peace Institute.
31
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF FORSYTH AND MONROE COUNTY, ITS PEOPLE, AND ATTRACTIONS VISIT:
CITY OF FORSYTH CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU 20 North Jackson Street Forsyth, GA 31029 478.974.1460 | www.visitforsythga.com
MONROE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM 126 East Johnston St. Forsyth, GA 31029 478.994.5070 | www.mchsga.org
HUBBARD MUSEUM & CULTURAL CENTER 500 GA Hwy. 83 SW Forsyth, GA 31029 478.994.8211 | www.hubbardalumni.org