The Alabama Women's Hall of Fame honors the achievements of women associated with the U.S. state of Alabama. Established in 1970, the first women were inducted the following year. The museum is located in Bean Hall, a former Carnegie Library, on the campus of Judson College in Marion, Alabama. [1] It became a state agency in 1975 by an act of the Alabama Legislature. The organization is governed by an eleven-member board. They are elected to three-year terms with a minimum of one board member from the fields of art, business, community service, education, law, medicine, politics, religion, and science. In addition to the board, the President of Judson College and Governor of Alabama both serve as voting members. [2]
Name | Image | Birth–Death | Year | Area of achievement [3] | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mahala Ashley Dickerson | (1912–2007) | 2023 | Activist, First African American woman to pass the State Bar in Alabama and in Alaska, Recipient of the Maud McClure Kelly Award, first African American to serve as the president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. | [4] | |
Alice Lee (lawyer) | (1911–2014) | 2023 | One of Alabama's first female lawyers, recipient of the Maud McClure Kelly Award from the Alabama Bar Association. Sister of author Harper Lee | [5] | |
Vestal Goodman | (1929–2003) | 2022 | "Queen of Gospel Music" | [6] | |
Allison Wetherbee | (1970–2016) | 2022 | Advocate for persons with disabilities, 1974 Alabama March of Dimes Child | [7] | |
Emera Frances Griffin | (1843–1917) | 2021 | President of the Alabama Woman’s Suffrage Association, first woman to address a legislative body in Alabama | [8] | |
Vivian Malone Jones | (1942–2005) | 2021 | One of the first two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963, and in 1965 became the university's first black graduate. | [9] | |
Mother Angelica | (1923–2016) | 2020 | Founder of Eternal Word Television Network | [10] | |
Janie Shores | (1932–2017) | 2020 | First woman elected to the Alabama Supreme Court | [11] | |
Milly Francis | (1803–1848) | 2019 | Native American of the Creek tribe, who survived the Trail of Tears | [12] | |
Harper Lee | (1926–2016) | 2019 | Author of To Kill a Mockingbird | [13] | |
Jessie Welch Austin | (1884–1987) | 2018 | Sheriff of Elmore County; warden of Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women | [14] | |
Jeanne Friegel Berman | (1884–1987) | 2018 | Founded the Alabama League of Women Voters | [15] | |
Mary Ward Brown | (1917–2013) | 2017 | American short-story writer and memoirist | [16] | |
Sara Crews Finley | (1930–2013) | 2017 | Pioneer in medical genetics. Co-founded with her husband, Dr. Wayne Finley, the first medical genetics program in the southeastern United States. | [17] | |
Anne Mae Beddow | (1893–1974) | 2016 | Nurse anesthetist and lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps as a lieutenant; developed a technique to administer pentothal sodium intravenously | [18] | |
Sarah Haynsworth Gayle | (1804–1835) | 2016 | Diarist who kept a journal from 1827 to 1835 | [19] | |
Kathryn Tucker Windham | (1918–2011) | 2015 | American storyteller, author, photographer, and journalist who was born in Selma and grew up in Thomasville | [20] | |
Hazel Mansell Gore | (1923–2001) | 2014 | Australian physician who taught at the University of Alabama in Birmingham | [21] | |
Zora Neale Hurston | (1891–1960) | 2013 | Folklorist, anthropologist, and noted author of the Harlem Renaissance. | [22] | |
Frances C. Roberts | (1916–2000) | 2013 | Chaired the History Department at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and directed their Academic Advisement and Information Center | [23] | |
Nina Miglionico | (1913–2009) | 2012 | First female member of the Birmingham City Council | [24] | |
Evelyn Daniel Anderson | (1926–1998) | 2011 | Educator, community volunteer, advocate for the disabled | [25] | |
Ada Ruth Stovall | (1913–2008) | 2011 | First woman appointed Assistant State Director of Vocational Education for the Alabama Department of Education | [26] | |
Mary Ivy Burks | (1920–2007) | 2010 | Environmental activist, conservationist, co-founder of the Alabama Conservancy | [27] | |
Margaret Charles Smith | (1906–2004) | 2010 | Noted African American midwife | [28] | |
Coretta Scott King | (1927–2006) | 2009 | Author, human rights activist, civil rights activist | [29] | |
Rosa McCauley Parks | (1913–2005) | 2008 | Civil rights activist | [30] | |
Fran McKee | (1926–2002) | 2007 | First woman line officer to hold the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy | [31] | |
Martha Crystal Myers | (1945–2002) | 2007 | Physician, missionary | [32] | |
Virginia Foster Durr | (1903–1999) | 2006 | Civil rights activist | [33] | |
Mary Celesta Johnson Weatherly | (1890–1976) | 2006 | Mother of the Year in 1962 for the state and nation | [34] | |
Vera Hall | (1902–1964) | 2005 | Blues and folk music singer | [35] | |
Juliette Hampton Morgan | (1914–1957) | 2005 | Librarian, author, civil rights activist | [36] | |
Nancy Batson Crews | (1920–2001) | 2004 | Aviator, one of twenty-eight professional women pilots accepted for the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron during World War II | [37] | |
Rosa Gerhardt | (1898–1975) | 2004 | First woman president of a bar association in the state | [38] | |
Louise Branscomb | (1901–1999) | 2003 | Pioneer female physician, human rights advocate | [39] | |
Bess Bolden Walcott | (1886–1988) | 2003 | Librarian, teacher, author, first African American woman to serve as a Red Cross Acting Field Director | [40] | |
Idella Jones Childs | (1903–1998) | 2002 | Civil rights advocate | [41] | |
Jane Lobman Katz | (1931–1986) | 2002 | Advocate for state government reform, equal rights advocate | [42] | |
Ida Vines Moffett | (1905–1996) | 2001 | Nurse for more than 70 years | [43] | |
Sibyl Pool | (1901–1973) | 2001 | First woman elected to a statewide office, second woman elected to the Alabama Legislature | [44] | |
Florence Golson Bateman | (1891–1987) | 2000 | Songwriter, singer | [45] | |
Maria Fearing | (1838–1937) | 2000 | Educator, missionary, established the Pantops Home for Girls in Luebo, Democratic Republic of the Congo | [46] | |
Margaret H. Booth | (1880–1953) | 1999 | Educator, became principal of Demopolis High School in 1900, founded Demopolis Public Library, lecturer | [47] | |
Juliet Opie Hopkins | (1818–1890) | 1999 | Civil War nurse | [48] | |
Martha Foster Crawford | (1830–1909) | 1998 | First foreign missionary of the Southern Baptist Convention, she and her spouse spent over fifty years in China as missionaries | [49] | |
Maria Howard Weeden | (1846–1905) | 1998 | Artist, author | [50] | |
Hattie Hooker Wilkins | (1875–1949) | 1997 | Promoter of woman's suffrage, first woman elected to the Alabama Legislature | [51] | |
Marion Walker Spidle | (1887–1983) | 1997 | Educator, university administrator, community leader | [52] | |
Elizabeth Burford Bashinsky | (1867–1968) | 1995 | Civic leader | [53] | |
Maude McKnight Lindsay | (1874–1941) | 1995 | Author, established the state's first free kindergarten in 1898 | [53] | |
Doris Marie Bender | (1911–1991) | 1994 | Social worker | [54] | |
Lottice Howell | (1897–1982) | 1994 | Singer | [55] | |
Ida Elizabeth Brandon Mathis | (1857–1925) | 1993 | Agricultural practices reformer | [56] | |
Mary George Jordan Waite | (1917–1990) | 1993 | First woman elected president of a state banking association, extensively involved with Alabama Girls State | [57] | |
Bessie Morse Bellingrath | (1878–1943) | 1992 | Developer of Bellingrath Gardens | [58] | |
Frances Scott Fitzgerald | (1921–1986) | 1992 | Writer, political activist, arts patron, daughter of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald | [59] | |
Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald | (1900–1948) | 1992 | Author, ballerina, painter, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald | [60] | |
Frances Virginia Praytor | (1899–1974) | 1991 | Teacher, co-owner of Birmingham's Smith and Hardwick Bookstore | [61] | |
Anna Linton Praytor | (1914–1989) | 1991 | Teacher, co-owner of Birmingham's Smith and Hardwick Bookstore | [61] | |
Julia Tarrant Barron | (1805–1890) | 1991 | Helped establish Judson College and Howard College, co-founder of The Alabama Baptist | [62] | |
Maud McLure Kelly | (1887–1973) | 1990 | Suffragist, genealogist, historian, first woman to practice law in Alabama (admitted to the Bar in 1908), first woman to be admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court as a practicing lawyer in the South in 1914, inducted into the Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2014 | [63] | |
Octavia Walton Le Vert | (1811–1877) | 1990 | Socialite, Civil War nurse, author | [64] | |
Gwen Bristow | (1903–1980) | 1989 | Author, journalist | [65] | |
Geneva Mercer | (1889–1984) | 1989 | Artist, sculptor | [66] | |
Katharine Cooper Cater | (1914–1980) | 1988 | Dean of Women and Dean of Student Life at Auburn University | [67] | |
Mary Elizabeth Phillips Thompson | (1855–1927) | 1988 | First woman principal Lincoln Normal School | [68] | |
Elizabeth Caroline Crosby | (1888–1983) | 1987 | Scientist, teacher, author | [69] | |
Lella Warren | (1899–1982) | 1987 | Author | [70] | |
Chamintney Stovall Thomas | (1899–1979) | 1986 | Musician, teacher, author | [71] | |
Martha Strudwick Young | (1862–1941) | 1986 | Folklorist, author, poet | [72] | |
Blanche Evans Dean | (1892–1974) | 1985 | Conservationist, naturalist, author | [73] | |
Katherine Vickery | (1898–1978) | 1985 | President of the Alabama Psychological Association; fellow of the Alabama Academy of Science and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science | [74] | |
Mildred Westervelt Warner | (1893–1974) | 1984 | President of Gulf States Paper Corporation, conservationist, philanthropist | [75] [76] [77] | |
Katherine White-Spunner | (1892–1978) | 1984 | Nurse, hospital administrator | [78] | |
Anne Mathilde Bilbro | (1870–1958) | 1983 | Composer, music teacher, author | [79] | |
Clara Weaver Parrish | (1861–1925) | 1983 | Artist, author, designer for Tiffany Studios | [80] | |
Chrysostom Moynahan | (1863–1941) | 1982 | Nun, first Registered Nurse licensed in Alabama, hospital administrator, founded St. Vincent's School of Nursing | [81] | |
Loula Friend Dunn | (1896–1977) | 1982 | Alabama's Commissioner of Public Welfare, first female executive director of the American Public Welfare Association | [82] | |
Tallulah Bankhead | (1903–1968) | 1981 | Stage, film, and voice actress. | [83] | |
Elizabeth Johnston | (1851–1934) | 1981 | Founder of Alabama Boys' Industrial School, social service worker; also known as Mrs. R. D. Johnston | [84] | |
Kathleen Moore Mallory | (1879–1954) | 1980 | Social services, magazine editor, Woman's Missionary Union executive | [85] | |
Ruby Pickens Tartt | (1880–1974) | 1980 | Author, folklorist, artist, librarian | [86] | |
Myrtle Brooke | (1872–1948) | 1979 | Educator, social services, mental health pioneer | [87] | |
Carrie A. Tuggle | (1858–1924) | 1979 | Educator, social services, instigator of Juvenile and Domestic Courts, founder of orphanage for African Americans | [88] | |
Annie Rowan Forney Daugette | (1876–1974) | 1978 | Author, historian, designed the Seal of Alabama | [89] | |
Patti Ruffner Jacobs | (1875–1939) | 1978 | Political scientist, promoter of women's suffrage | [90] | |
Amelia Gayle Gorgas | (1826–1913) | 1977 | Librarian, nurse, teacher, university counselor | [91] | |
Augusta Jane Evans Wilson | (1835–1909) | 1977 | Author, Civil War nurse | [92] | |
Ruth Robertson Berrey | (1906–1973) | 1976 | Physician, missionary | [93] | |
Annie Lola Price | (1903–1972) | 1976 | Attorney, first woman to serve on high court of Alabama, Chief of Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals | [94] | |
Dixie Bibb Graves | (1883–1965) | 1975 | Social and political services, first Alabama woman elected to the United States Senate | [95] | |
Marie Bankhead Owen | (1869–1958) | 1975 | Author, historian, director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History | [96] | |
Henrietta Gibbs | (1879–1960) | 1974 | Social services, youth counselor, leader of American women's causes | [97] | |
Loraine Bedsole Tunstall | (1879–1953) | 1974 | Social services, creator of child welfare services, first woman to head a department in the state government of Alabama | [98] | |
Edwina Donnelly Mitchell | (1894–1968) | 1973 | Humanitarian, social services, prison reformer | [99] | |
Lurleen Burns Wallace | (1926–1968) | 1973 | First female Governor of Alabama | [100] | |
Agnes Ellen Harris | (1883–1952) | 1972 | Educator, Dean of Women at Auburn University and University of Alabama | [101] | |
Margaret Murray Washington | (1856–1925) | 1972 | Founder of county and industrial schools, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute Principal, wife of Booker T. Washington | [102] | |
Hallie Farmer | (1881–1960) | 1971 | Political scientist, educator, author, prison reformer | [103] | |
Helen Adams Keller | (1880–1968) | 1971 | Deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar | [104] | |
Julia Strudwick Tutwiler | (1841–1916) | 1971 | Author, Alabama Normal College President, prison reformer, author of official state song, Alabama | [105] | |
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944). She also had a brief but successful career on radio and made appearances on television. In all, Bankhead amassed nearly 300 film, stage, television and radio roles during her career. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1981.
William Brockman Bankhead was an American politician who served as the 42nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936 to 1940, representing Alabama's 10th and later 7th congressional districts as a Democrat from 1917 to 1940. Bankhead was a strong liberal and a prominent supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal of pro-labor union legislation, thus clashing with most other Southern Democrats in Congress at the time. Bankhead described himself as proud to be a politician, by which he meant that he did not neglect matters that concerned his district or reelection. He was the father of actress Tallulah Bankhead.
John Hollis Bankhead was an American politician and Confederate Army soldier. A member of the Democratic Party, Bankhead served as U.S. Senator from the state of Alabama from 1907 until his death in 1920. Bankhead had additionally served in the United States House of Representatives, the Alabama Legislature, and as warden of the state penitentiary in Wetumpka.
The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution founded to honor and recognize women. It was incorporated in 1969 in Seneca Falls, New York, and first inducted honorees in 1973. As of 2024, the Hall has honored 312 inductees.
Kathryn Tucker Windham was an American storyteller, author, photographer, folklorist, and journalist. She was born in Selma, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Thomasville.
Mary Eugenia Rawls was an American actress.
Marie Bankhead Owen was Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History for over three decades, as well as a documentarian of Alabama history who authored numerous books on the subject. Owen served as an advisor for the Federal Writers' Project history of the state. In 1939, Owen helped select the Alabama state motto. She was actively opposed to a Federal mandate giving women the right to vote, and believed in the supremacy of the white race. Owen was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1975. Her niece was actress Tallulah Bankhead.
The Arizona Women's Hall of Fame recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Arizona for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. In 1979, the office of Governor Bruce Babbitt worked with the Arizona Women's Commission to create the Hall of Fame. The first inductees were in October 1981. During its first decade, the Hall of Fame was overseen by the Arizona Historical Society and the Arizona Department of Library, Archives and Public Records. A steering committee would each year select a varying number of women to be inducted. The 1991 inclusion of Planned Parenthood creator Margaret Sanger resulted in disapproval being heard from some in the Arizona Legislature, and funding dried up. With the lone exception of María Urquides in 1994, there were no Hall of Fame inductees for over a decade. Inductions finally resumed in 2002, when the Hall of Fame has only inducted new honorees every two years. The award returned to being annual in 2018.
The Bankhead House, also known as Sunset and the John Hollis Bankhead House, is a historic mansion in Jasper, Walker County, Alabama. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 18, 1973.
Alabama Heritage is a nonprofit educational quarterly history magazine first published during the summer of 1986. It is published by the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The magazine was conceived with a broad conception of "heritage," incorporating more than traditional history. Issues include articles about archaeology, architecture, anthropology, religion, folk arts, literature, and music. Alabama Heritage, through support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is available in every school in the state of Alabama.
Julia Tarrant Barron (1805–1890) was a founder of Judson College in Marion, Alabama, and Howard College, renamed subsequently to Samford University now located in Homewood, Alabama. She also co-founded The Alabama Baptist newspaper with pastor Milo P. Jewett and donated the land for the construction of the Siloam Baptist Church. She was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Bessie Morse Bellingrath was an Alabama philanthropist known for developing the Bellingrath Gardens and Home, the historic home of Bessie Morse Bellingrath and her husband, Mobile Coca-Cola Company president Walter Bellingrath. Bellingrath is remembered for her work creating the Bellingrath Gardens, as well as her private philanthropy during the depression. She would pay people hundreds of dollars in exchange for a plant in their gardens, an afghan blanket she saw in a shop, or an overpriced antique. She was an honorary member-at-large of the Garden Clubs of America, and has been inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Martha Strudwick Young was an American regionalist writer known for her recounting of Southern folk tales, fables, and songs of black life in the plantation era. She was admired by other writers for her skill with dialect. Young was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.
Mary Ivy Burks was an environmental activist who helped create and served as the first president of the Alabama Conservancy, an organization aimed at preserving Alabama's environment.
Maud McKnight Lindsay (1874–1941) was an American educator. She is best known for being the founder of the first free kindergarten in Alabama, and a friend of Helen Keller. In 1995, she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Marion Walker Spidle (1897–1983) was an American educator. She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Frances Cabaniss Roberts was an American historian. She was a founding member of the University of Alabama in Huntsville who was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Elizabeth Johnston Evans Johnston was an American philanthropist, social worker, and clubwoman. She served as president of the board of control of the Alabama boys industrial school, and was the vice-regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association from Alabama. In 1981, Johnston was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Sarah Ann Haynsworth Gayle was a 19th-century diarist of the American South, who kept a journal during the period of 1827 to 1835. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, "Her journal is unique as the only surviving account of early Alabama life written by a woman." In 2016, she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
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