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. 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.
Inductees
| Name | Image | Birth–Death | Year | Area of achievement | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Beatrice Hirsch Haas | 2024 | Fundraising Consultant | |||
| Adele Hunt Logan | (1861-1865) | 2024 | African American teacher and suffragist | ||
| Valerie Murphey | 2024 | ||||
| Elizabeth "Bessie" Tift | 2024 | ||||
| Phyllis Jenkins Barrow | (1920–2009) | 2023 | WWII 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 | ||
| Alice Coachman | (1923–2014) | 2023 | First black woman to win an Olympic gold medal | ||
| Luck Flanders Gambrell | (1930–2015) | 2023 | Philanthropist | ||
| Dorothy Rogers Tilly | (1883–1970) | 2023 | American civil rights activist | ||
| Lizzie Lurline Collier | (1893–1986) | 2022 | Educator, civil servant. | ||
| Josephine Fields Sanders | (1895–1975) | 2022 | Musician, civic leader | ||
| Hedwig "Hedy" Grace West | (1938–2005) | 2022 | Musician | ||
| Josephine Wilkins |
|
(1893–1977) | 2022 | Social activist, president of the Georgia State League of Women Voters | |
| Ruby Maude Anderson | (1893–1977) | 2021 | Educator | ||
| Mary Givens Bryan | (1910–1964) | 2021 | Archivist | ||
| Laura Pope Forester | (1873–1953) | 2021 | Folk artist | ||
| Allie Murray Smith | (1905–2000) | 2021 | International ambassador; mother of Rosalynn Carter | ||
| Clarice Cross Bagwell | (1914–2001) | 2020 | Educator | ||
| Katharine DuPre Lumpkin | (1897–1988) | 2020 | Author and educator | ||
| Juanita Marsh | (1926–2013) | 2020 | One of the first women judges in Georgia | ||
| Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright | (1925?–2002) | 2020 | Land conservation and environmentalism | ||
| Leila Alice Daughtry Denmark | (1898–2012) | 2019 | Pioneering pediatrician, supercentenarian | ||
| Mary Dorothy Lyndon | (1877–1924) | 2019 | First female graduate from the University of Georgia in 1914 | ||
| Ludie Clay Andrews | (1875–1969) | 2018 | First African-American registered nurse in Georgia. Founder of the Grady Municipal Training School of Colored Nurses | ||
| Susie Baker King Taylor |
|
(1848–1912) | 2018 | Nurse and educator, first African-American Army nurse, wrote and self-published a memoir of her Civil War experiences. | |
| Mamie George S. Williams | (1872–1951) | 2018 | First African-American woman on the National Committee of the Republican Party. First woman to speak from the floor at the National Republican Convention. | ||
| Carolyn Mackenzie Carter | (1919–2010) | 2017 | First woman photojournalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution | ||
| Clermont Huger Lee | (1914–2006) | 2017 | One of Georgia's first female landscape architects | ||
| Lucile Nix | (1903–1968) | 2017 | First library head for the state of Georgia | ||
| Sarah Harper Heard |
|
(1853–1919) | 2016 | Founder of a traveling library system | |
| Ellamae Ellis League | (1899–1991) | 2016 | Architect | ||
| Katie Hall Underwood | (1884–1977) | 2016 | Midwife | ||
| Allie Carroll Hart | (1913–2003) | 2015 | Worked 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 | ||
| Frances Freeborn Pauley | (1905–2003) | 2015 | League 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 | ||
| Nell Kendall Hodgson Woodruff | (1892–1968) | 2015 | American 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 | ||
| Rebecca Stiles Taylor | (1879–1958) | 2014 | First president of the Savannah chapter of the National Association of Colored Women | ||
| Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas | (1834–1907) | 2014 | Memoirist | ||
| Bazoline Estelle Usher |
|
(1885–1992) | 2014 | Atlanta's first Supervisor of Negro Schools | |
| Henrietta Stanley Dull | (1863–1964) | 2013 | Caterer, journalist, author (as S. R. Dull) of Southern Cooking | ||
| Mary Gregory Jewett | (1908–1976) | 2013 | Founder and first President of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation | ||
| Lollie Belle Moore Wylie | (1858–1923) | 2013 | Writer | ||
| Sarah Randolph Bailey | (1885–1972) | 2012 | Educator who organized the YWCA-sponsored Girl Reserves for African-American girls | ||
| Ethel Harpst | (1883–1967) | 2012 | Founder of the Ethel Harpst Home for children | ||
| Beulah Rucker Oliver |
|
(1888–1963) | 2012 | Educator | |
| Lillian Gordy Carter |
|
(1898–1983) | 2011 | Mother of President Jimmy Carter; Peace Corps worker; nurse; businesswoman | |
| Mary Francis Hill Coley | (1900–1966) | 2011 | Midwife, subject of All My Babies | ||
| May duBignon Stiles Howard | (1894–1983) | 2011 | Health care | ||
| Mary Ann Lipscomb | (1848–1918) | 2010 | Educator | ||
| Celestine Sibley |
|
(1914–1999) | 2010 | Journalist | |
| Madrid Williams | (1911–1993) | 2010 | First female president of the National Association of Bar Executives | ||
| Caroline Pafford Miller | (1903–1992) | 2009 | Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1934 for her first novel, Lamb in His Bosom, the first Georgian to win the Pulitzer for Fiction. | ||
| Harriet Powers |
|
(1837–1910) | 2009 | Quilt maker, creator of the Bible Quilt now in the possession of the National Museum of American History | |
| Jane Hurt Yarn | (1924–1995) | 2009 | Environmentalist, conservationist | ||
| Elfrida De Renne Barrow | (1884–1970) | 2008 | Author, poet | ||
| Amilee Chastain Graves | (1910–1983) | 2008 | Publisher; first woman to hold elected office in Habersham County | ||
| Susan Dowdell Myrick |
|
(1893–1978) | 2008 | Journalist, technical advisor for Gone with the Wind movie | |
| Margaret O. Bynum | (1921–1982) | 2007 | Educator | ||
| Edith Lenora Foster | (1906–1996) | 2007 | Librarian, writer, historian | ||
| Helen Douglas Mankin |
|
(1894–1956) | 2007 | First woman elected to the United States Congress from Georgia | |
| Sara Branham Matthews |
|
(1888–1962) | 2007 | Scientist who discovered a treatment for spinal meningitis | |
| Eliza Frances (Fanny) Andrews |
|
(1840–1931) | 2006 | Botanist | |
| Grace Towns Hamilton | (1907–1992) | 2006 | First African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly | ||
| Sarah Porter Hillhouse | (1763–1831) | 2006 | First woman editor and printer in Georgia | ||
| Alice Woodby McKane |
|
(1865–1948) | 2005 | First female doctor in Savannah | |
| Nina Anderson Pape | (1869–1944) | 2005 | Educator | ||
| Jeannette Pickering Rankin |
|
(1880–1973) | 2005 | First woman elected to the United States House of Representatives | |
| Mathilda Beasley | (1832–1903) | 2004 | Former slave, Georgia's first African-American Catholic nun | ||
| Louise Frederick Hays | (1881–1951) | 2004 | Historian, director Georgia Department of Archives and History | ||
| Helen Dortch Longstreet |
|
(1863–1962) | 2004 | Social activist | |
| Sarah McLendon Murphy | (1892–1954) | 2004 | Children's activist | ||
| Emily Barnelia Woodward |
|
(1885–1970) | 2004 | Journalist | |
| Madeleine Kiker Anthony | (1903–1989) | 2003 | Historic preservationist who helped save the old courthouse in Dahlonega, Georgia, now the Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site | ||
| Helena Maud Brown Cobb | (1869–1922) | 2003 | Missionary, educator | ||
| Julia Lester Dillon | (1871–1959) | 2003 | Landscape architect | ||
| Leila Ross Wilburn | (1885–1967) | 2003 | Georgia's first registered female architect | ||
| Wessie Gertrude Connell | (1915–1987) | 2002 | Librarian | ||
| Lula Dobbs McEachern |
|
(1874–1949) | 2002 | Educator, missionary, philanthropist | |
| Alice Harrell Strickland | (1859–1947) | 2002 | Georgia's first woman mayor | ||
| Julia L. Coleman | (1889–1973) | 2001 | Educator | ||
| Catherine Evans Whitener | (1880–1964) | 2001 | Revived the textile art of tufting into a profitable business | ||
| Sallie Ellis Davis | (1877–1950) | 2000 | Educator | ||
| Laura Askew Haygood | (1845–1900) | 2000 | Educator, missionary | ||
| Ellen Louise Axson Wilson |
|
(1860–1914) | 2000 | First Lady of the United States, first wife of President Woodrow Wilson | |
| Moina Belle Michael |
|
(1869–1944) | 1999 | Originated the idea of using poppies to remember the war dead; honored with a United States postage stamp in 1948 | |
| Lillian Eugenia Smith |
|
(1897–1966) | 1999 | Author of Strange Fruit, a 1944 novel about interracial love | |
| Lettie Pate Evans |
|
(1872–1953) | 1998 | Philanthropist, on board of directors of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. | |
| Julia Collier Harris |
|
(1885–1967) | 1998 | Journalist, civic leader, editor | |
| Rhoda Kaufman | (1888–1956) | 1998 | Social activist | ||
| Carrie Steele Logan |
|
(1829–1900) | 1998 | Founded Carrie Steele Orphans' Home | |
| Rebecca Latimer Felton |
|
(1835–1930) | 1997 | First woman to serve in the United States Senate; women's rights advocate | |
| Mary Ann Harris Gay |
|
(1829–1918) | 1997 | Author | |
| Nancy Morgan Hart |
|
(1735–1830) | 1997 | Namesake of Hart County; frontier woman, American patriot, spy for the colonial army during the American War of Independence | |
| Lucy Barrow McIntire | (1886–1975) | 1997 | Civic activist | ||
| Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson |
|
(1860–1942) | 1996 | First Lady of Georgia, wife of Governor William Yates Atkinson; proponent of a state-supported college for women | |
| Nellie Peters Black |
|
(1851–1919) | 1996 | Women's issues organizer and activist | |
| Ellen Smith Craft |
|
(1826–1891) | 1996 | Escaped slave, educator | |
| Corra Mae White Harris |
|
(1869–1935) | 1996 | Author | |
| Lugenia Burns Hope | (1871–1947) | 1996 | Social reformer
|
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| Selena Sloan Butler |
|
(1872–1964) | 1995 | Founder of first African-American PTA | |
| Anna Colquitt Hunter | (1892–1985) | 1995 | Historic preservationist | ||
| Hazel Jane Raines | (1916–1956) | 1995 | First 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 | ||
| Julia Flisch | (1861–1941) | 1994 | Journalist, women's rights advocate, educator | ||
| Carson McCullers |
|
(1917–1967) | 1994 | Author | |
| Margaret Mitchell |
|
(1900–1949) | 1994 | Author of Gone with the Wind | |
| Ruth Hartley Mosley | (1886–1975) | 1994 | Philanthropist | ||
| Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman | (1794–1885) | 1994 | Founder of the first public high school for girls in Augusta | ||
| Dicksie Bradley Bandy | (1890–1971) | 1993 | Philanthropist, businesswoman, campaigned to restore the historic Cherokee Chief Vann House Historic Site | ||
| Mary Musgrove Bosomworth | (1700–1765) | 1993 | Creek Indian woman who served as an interpreter for James Oglethorpe | ||
| Cassandra Pickett Durham | (1824–1885) | 1993 | First woman in Georgia to earn a doctor of medicine degree | ||
| Viola Ross Napier |
|
(1881–1962) | 1993 | First woman member Georgia House of Representatives, first woman lawyer to argue before Georgia Supreme Court | |
| Gertrude Pridgett "Ma" Rainey |
|
(1886–1939) | 1993 | Blues singer | |
| Martha McChesney Berry |
|
(1866–1942) | 1992 | Founder of Berry College | |
| Lucy Craft Laney |
|
(1854–1933) | 1992 | Educator, hospital administrator | |
| Juliette Gordon Low |
|
(1860–1927) | 1992 | Founder of Girl Scouts of the USA | |
| Flannery O'Connor |
|
(1925–1964) | 1992 | Author |