Grace Towns Hamilton
Grace Towns Hamilton | |
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Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 137th, 112th and 31st district | |
In office 1966–1984 | |
Succeeded by | Mable Thomas |
Personal details | |
Born | Atlanta University Ohio State University | February 10, 1907
Grace Towns Hamilton (February 10, 1907 – June 17, 1992) was an American politician who was the
Early life and background
Grace Towns was born in
Father's background
George Alexander Towns Sr. was an educator, poet and playwright who received degrees from both Atlanta University and
Mother's background
Harriet Eleanor "Nellie" McNair had been a student of George Alexander Towns Sr., and later entered the teaching profession. She was born in 1879 to parents Felix and Hattie Cherry McNair, but at some point her father had left, and Hattie was the sole parent in the family. The McNair family were all members of the
Marriage
In Ware Memorial Chapel on the grounds of Atlanta University, 23-year-old Grace Towns married 31-year-old Henry Cooke "Cookie" Hamilton on June 7, 1930. Both the Towns and Hamilton families had backgrounds with the university, as well as with Atlanta's First Congregational Church. Cookie's father and grandfather were prominent African-American building contractors in Atlanta.[7] The couple's only child, Eleanor, was born in 1931. Cookie died on January 2, 1987.[8]
Education
Oglethorpe Practice School was established on Atlanta University's campus in 1905. It offered grades K–7, with the senior class gaining experience in the teaching profession. After several years of having a private tutor in her parents' home, Grace Towns transferred to Oglethorpe for her last two years at that level.[9] Her high-school education was the preparatory school at the university, the era's only city high school available to black students. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Atlanta University in 1927. In 1929, she was awarded her master's degree in psychology from Ohio State University. Her brief sojourn as a student in Ohio was her initial experience with segregation. While she was aware of the effect of segregation on the African-American community, Atlanta University's integrated campus had sheltered her from being a part of it. Living in Columbus, Ohio, and working as a secretary at the YWCA brought her face-to-face with the effects of segregation and tokenism. After she and her husband Cookie Hamilton returned to live in Atlanta in 1941, she took two graduate courses at Atlanta University, one taught by family friend W. E. B. Dubois, and the other taught by former Director for Research at the National Urban League, Ira De Augustine Reid.[10][11]
Early career (1930–1942)
Prior to her marriage, Grace Towns had taught at both
Atlanta Urban League (1943–1960)
An affiliate of the
Housing
Hamilton and AUL housing secretary Robert A. Thompson made housing the organization's top priority. The goal was better housing in black communities, preferably on newly purchased land. Hamilton wished to move families out of ghettos into improved conditions in better neighborhoods. In 1947, they organized the Temporary Coordinating Committee on Housing to scout out potential development areas for the black community. Hamilton and Thompson, sometimes accompanied by others, made repeated trips to Washington D.C. to convince the Federal Housing Administration to provide insured mortgages to the black community. In July 1950, the federally insured 452-unit High Point apartment rental complex opened as a result of the AUL's efforts. Successes also included the detached single-family home development of Fairhaven, as well as Carver Public Housing and Perry Homes.[17][18]
Education
In 1944, Hamilton directed a study be conducted by experts to assess the condition of black education in Atlanta. The Citizens Committee on Public Education was organized in 1945 to disseminate the study to the Atlanta Board of Education in particular, and to the public in general. The education board responded slowly by opening four kindergartens for black children between 1945 and 1948.[19]
Voter registration
In 1944, the
Health care
In December 1947, Hamilton and the AUL issued A Report on Hospital Care of the Negro Population of Atlanta, Georgia. The report detailed the lack of black physicians in Atlanta, and the limited health care available to Atlanta's black community. Although indigent black patients had been treated in Atlanta, no facility administered care to members of the black community who were able to pay for their care. The AUL's recommendation was the designation of a city hospital specific to the training and administering of health care to meet the needs of Atlanta's black citizens.[22] Highlighting the tragedy of insufficient care available to blacks was the 1931 death of Juliette Derricotte, Dean of Women at Fisk University, following an automobile crash near Dalton, Georgia. Denied emergency care in Georgia, she was transported to a hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she died.[23]
The Citizens Committee for Negro Hospital Care that included Hamilton and R. Hughs Wood of
Towards this end, Hamilton added to the Committee local attorney
By 1960, Hamilton had decided to move forward with her life and career, and tendered her resignation to AUL. It was not until 1962 that
Post urban league (1961–1966)
She operated Hamilton and Associates consulting firm from 1961 through 1967. Her most notable client was Eli Ginzberg from Columbia University. He hired her to interview black college students in Atlanta as part of a study on career expectations of middle-class black youth. The report was published by Columbia University Press in 1967 under the title The Middle-Class Negro in the White Man's World.[27] In 1964, Hamilton and Mrs. Edward M. Vinson founded the bi-racial Partners for Progress. Hamilton became vice-chair of the organization. The organization's mission was to help effect equal opportunity compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Affiliated with the National Women's Committee on Civil Rights, the organization worked through personal visitations, correspondence and telephone calls, monitoring and encouraging compliance with the law in all sectors of government, private enterprise and society.[28] She also received multiple local, state and national appointments during these years. When Lyndon B. Johnson signed an executive order in 1966 to create the President's Council on Recreation and Natural Beauty, Hamilton was one of the council appointees.[29] On July 8, 1964, armed police officers arrested and jailed Hamilton on an outstanding traffic court summons. When she appeared before court, she was fined $25.[30]
Georgia House of Representatives (1966–1984)
Hamilton was the first African-American woman elected to the
The office holders elected in the 1965 special election were required to run for office in the 1966 election. Hamilton was re-elected, defeating opponent Helen Howard.[36] Hamilton's district bore three different numbers, due to redistricting. She was originally elected to District 137. In 1969, that area became District 112. In 1973, it was changed to District 31 and remained so for the rest of her government service.[37]
Hamilton began her legislative career on the committees for appropriations, education and health. One of her first bills was aimed at providing for the Georgia Highway Department to apply for federal matching funds to assist relocation of any resident displaced by new road construction. She also co-sponsored bill with Janet Merritt authorizing Georgia Arts Commission to extend its authority to encompass additional artistic genres. She was able to get legislation passed to revamp the electoral process in Fulton County by creating the County Board of Registration and Elections.[38]
In 1965, the Public Service Administration of Chicago recommended restructuring the Atlanta City Council. Based upon that recommendation, Hamilton introduced a bill to establish Atlanta Charter Commission. Her goal was to bring city representation into compliance with the 1965
What eventually led to Hamilton being defeated for re-election in 1984, was a 1980 reapportionment battle against the Black Caucus, who wanted the reapportionment figured to their advantage. Hamilton felt so strongly they were wrong, that she ended up testifying before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in 1982. The Black Caucus were so angered by what they believed to be a betrayal by Hamilton, that they put Mable Thomas against her in the primary. Hamilton lost to Thomas in the run-off election and never held elected office again.[40]
Final years
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Following her election defeat, Hamilton served as advisor to the
References
- Grant, Donald L.; Grant, Jonathan (2001). The Way It Was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia. University of Georgia Press. OCLC 48134795.
- Spritzer, Lorraine Nelson; Bergmark, Jean B. (1997). Grace Towns Hamilton and the Politics of Southern Change. University of Georgia Press. OCLC 1149210760.
Notes
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 1-2.
- ^ Grant & Grant 2001, p. 240.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 23, 32, 33, 41.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 3–9, 24, 44.
- ISBN 978-0-8143-2142-3.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 18, 32–35, 173.
- ^ "Alexander Hamilton and Son". Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 55, 58, 221.
- ^ "Fifth Decade at Atlanta". New York Observer. 88. January 6, 1910.
- ^ "Yesterday in Afro-American History". Jet: 11. July 9, 1970.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 30, 31, 35, 43, 46, 53, 75, 76.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 53, 56, 63.
- ^ Work Progress Administration. "The Urban Negro Worker in the United States, 1925–1936". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 69.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 81–82, 87, 88, 102.
- ^ "A.T. Walden". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 89, 90, 93, 96, 97.
- ISBN 978-1-57859-142-8.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 103, 105.
- ISBN 978-0-8203-2907-9.
- ^ Mays, Benjamin E (2003). Born to Rebel: An Autobiography. University of Georgia.
- ^ Grant & Grant 2001, p. 495.
- ISBN 978-0-8050-6813-9.
- ISBN 978-0-313-26309-5.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 116–127.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 128–130, 144.
- ISSN 0012-9011.
- ISBN 978-0-8153-2309-9.
- ^ "Records of the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service". National Archives. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 153, 154, 158–160.
- ISBN 978-0-06-098438-0.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 163.
- ^ "Georgia Legislature's "New Look" for 1966". Ebony. Johnson: 48, 49, 50, 52, 54, 55. September 1965.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 166.
- ISBN 978-1-61530-176-8.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 171.
- ^ "Women in the Georgia House of Representatives, 1923 – 2000". Georgia Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 18, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 168–173.
- ^ Spritzer & Bergmark 1997, p. 174–177.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-01488-6.