Grace Towns Hamilton and the Politics of Southern Change - Softcover

Spritzer, Lorraine Nelson; Bergmark, Jean B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0820333875 ISBN 13: 9780820333878

Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 2009

Synopsis

No history of the civil rights era in the South would be complete without an account of the remarkable life and career of Grace Towns Hamilton, the first African American woman in the Deep South to be elected to a state legislature.

A national official of the Young Women's Christian Association early in her career, Hamilton later headed the Atlanta Urban League, where she worked within the confines of segregation to equalize African American access to education, health care, and voting rights. In the Georgia legislature from 1965 until 1984, she exercised considerable power as a leader in the black struggle for local, state, and national offices, promoting interracial cooperation as the key to racial justice. Her probity and moderation paved the way for the election of other black women, and by the end of her political career no southern legislature was without women members of her race.

Lorraine Nelson Spritzer and Jean B. Bergmark examine two generations of African American history to give the long view of Hamilton's activism. The life spans of Hamilton and her father, an Atlanta University professor who was her greatest mentor, encompassed the best and worst of the African American experience, inevitably shaping Hamilton's outlook and achievements.

About this title

About the Author:

Lorraine Nelson Spritzer (Author)
LORRAINE NELSON SPRITZER, a former newspaperwoman, first met Helen Mankin as a reporter for the Capitol Bureau of the Atlanta Constitution and followed the congresswoman's career to Washington D.C. She now works as a freelance writer out of Tempe, Arizona. Spritzer is also coauthor of Grace Towns Hamilton and the Politics of Southern Change (Georgia).

Jean B. Bergmark (Author)
JEAN B. BERGMARK, a freelance writer based in Atlanta, is the coauthor of Notable Men and Women of the Civil War.

From Kirkus Reviews:

An impressive biography that provides fresh insight into the patterns of change in southern politics and race relations. In 1965, Grace Towns Hamilton was elected to the Georgia state legislature, becoming the first black woman in the Deep South to hold such office. That achievement was the culmination of a lifetime defined by dedicated public service and achievement. Throughout her long career Hamilton remained true to her beliefs, chief among them that one must always work for the common good (of both blacks and whites). Her refusal to reduce politics to racial issues led to conflict with radical younger leaders, who considered her moderation a betrayal. While acknowledging her shortcomings in specific circumstances, Spritzer and Bergmark, both freelance writers, openly defend their subject. They adroitly set Hamilton's biography within the context of broad social and political trends (from Reconstruction to the civil-rights era), and they bring to life the unique cultural and political world of Atlanta. Hamilton was born and married into the privileged society of the city's black elite. She worked for the YWCA for many years, then for the Atlanta Urban League, heading numerous pivotal projects: establishing a hospital for ``nonindigent Negroes,'' registering voters, building housing for the city's black community, improving its black schools. In all these endeavors, Hamilton's philosophy was one of pragmatism. A woman of dignity (with an almost aristocratic bearing), learning, and patience, Hamilton achieved her goals in a nonconfrontational manner: Inform and educate whites, she argued, and they will cooperate. With all her accomplishments, her unique style, and her flaws, Grace Towns Hamilton is a remarkable figure. Spritzer and Bergmark have performed a great service by bringing her story to light in this thorough and engaging, albeit partisan, portrait of a woman and her times. (21 b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0820333875
• ISBN 13: 9780820333878
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296