- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Title:
- Grace Towns Hamilton (1907-1992)
- Creator:
- Bergmark, Jean B.
- Contributor to Resource:
- Spritzer, Lorraine Nelson
- Date of Original:
- 2002-11-19
- Subject:
- African American civil rights workers--Georgia
African American political activists--Georgia
Legislators--Georgia
African Americans--Politics and government - People:
- Hamilton, Grace Towns, 1907-1992
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- articles
- Type:
- Text
- 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.
GSE identifier: SS8H12 - Metadata URL:
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/grace-towns-hamilton-1907-1992/
- Rights Holder:
- If you wish to use content from the NGE site for commercial use, publication, or any purpose other than fair use as defined by law, you must request and receive written permission from the NGE. Such requests may be directed to: Permissions/NGE, University of Georgia Press, 330 Research Drive, Athens, GA 30602.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: "Grace Towns Hamilton (1907-1992)," New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved [date]: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org.
- Original Collection:
- Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
- Contributing Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
- Rights: