The Historical Context for the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame has been posted from the Records Disposition Authority (RDA) approved by the State Records Commission on October 26, 2022. The RDA establishes disposition requirements by designating records as either temporary records which may be destroyed after a specified retention period, or permanent records, which must be preserved in perpetuity. The complete RDAs for close to 175 agencies can be found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History website.
In 1838, Milo P. Jewett, a graduate of Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary, moved to the South to open a Baptist school for girls and young women.[1] He met Gen. Edwin Davis King at the University of Alabama. King, who served as a trustee at the university, invited Jewett to his hometown of Marion to consider it as a potential host site for a new women’s school. With the assistance of wealthy resident Julia Barron, who funded the early rental of a school building and boarded Jewett, his wife, and two teachers, the Judson Institute officially opened its doors on January 7, 1839, with nine pupils. They named the school in honor of Ann Hasseltine Judson, a pioneer Baptist missionary to Burma (now known as Myanmar).[2] She died in 1826 after securing the release of her husband, Adoniram, after Burmese officials had persecuted the couple for their missionary work.[3] Alabama Baptists hoped that her example would inspire women. Judson Institute attained immediate success, and by its second semester, enrollment increased to seventy students.
On January 9, 1841, the Alabama Legislature chartered the Judson Female Institute. Under the leadership of its founder and first president, Milo Jewett, the Institute built its first brick building in 1841 and, in 1843, deeded the land to the Alabama Baptist Convention for educational purposes to provide opportunities for young women. Jewett served until 1855.[4] In 1904, at a time of growth and expansion, the Institute changed its name to Judson College but continued to be a Baptist-affiliated institution for women.[5]
Meanwhile, in 1895, the Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs organized to advance the educational interests of women in literature and art, at a time of limited higher education opportunities for women.[6] The Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs founded a Hall of Fame in 1937 to honor Alabama women who had achieved success as published authors. To recognize significant contributions, the Alabama Clubwoman State Yearbooks published Hall of Fame rosters.[7] Prominent members included Julia Tutwiler, a noted prison and education reformer, and Lillian Milner Orr, a renowned child labor reformer. The Hall of Fame’s members tended to be white women who had published works that sought to reform various aspects of Alabama society, such as education or criminal rehabilitation. The Hall of Fame both promoted the organization’s social reform platform and campaigned for increased roles for white women in public life. The organization, however, did not challenge Alabama’s system of racial segregation and generally differentiated the interests of white middle-class women from their Black counterparts. The Hall of Fame largely achieved its intended purpose—to raise awareness and donations for the Alabama Federation of Women’s Club’s activities. Reports of various Hall of Fame inductees and induction ceremonies appeared regularly in Alabama newspapers. [8]
The State of Alabama has a tradition of honoring the accomplishments and contributions of its citizens. In 1951, the Alabama Legislature created the Alabama Hall of Fame to honor “worthy citizens of Alabama who have rendered outstanding services or who have won fame on account of their achievements.”[9] Honorees included individuals such as educator Booker T. Washington and public health officer Jerome Cochrane. During its existence, the Alabama Hall of Fame only inducted two women: Julia Strudwick Tutwiler and Augusta Jane Evans Wilson.[10] By action of the Alabama Legislature, the Alabama Hall of Fame dissolved in 1990. [11] Many other distinctive halls of fame have been created over the years. The legislature created the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1967, and the 1970s saw an influx of new halls of fame, including those dedicated to the arts, motor sports, music, and aviation.[12]
During this time, Judson College administrators and staff conceived the idea to create a Women’s Hall of Fame.[13] On June 8, 1970, during an on-campus luncheon, Dr. Charles Tyler, academic dean for Judson College, announced plans to establish a Women’s Hall of Fame at Judson College. Gov. Albert Brewer and Judge Fleetwood Carnley, acting President of Judson, appointed a five-member nominating committee, who then selected the first Board of Directors. At their first board meeting on September 13, 1970, the Board of Directors decided how the board operated and developed guidelines for choosing those honored.[14] Alabamians may nominate deceased women connected to Alabama history who made significant contributions on a state, national, or international scale. Only nominees who receive unanimous board support are inducted into the hall of fame.
Though originating with Judson College, the founders envisioned the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame as representing the entire state.[15] As the fifth oldest women’s college in the nation and Alabama’s only college specifically for women, Judson College served as an ideal host site for the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.[16]
At a Saturday ceremony on September 25, 1971, Judson College inducted the first three women into the Hall of Fame for Women: disability rights advocate Helen Keller, historian Hallie Farmer, and reformer Julia Strudwick Tutwiler. The inscription for Julia Strudwick Tutwiler reads, “Pioneer in education for women and progressive education for children; successful reformer improving physical, moral, and religious conditions in Alabama prison; polemicist and poet; authoress of ‘Alabama’ the state song.”[17] In his remarks at the first induction ceremony, United States Postmaster General Winton Blount expressed hope that a woman would soon be appointed to the United States Supreme Court and that the country would “do well to have some women astronauts.”[18] (Indeed, the first Black woman to travel to space would be Alabamian Mae Carol Jemison in 1992.[19]) In 1972, the Hall of Fame inducted Margaret Murray Washington, the first Black woman to receive this honor.[20]
Act 1975-1061 granted state agency status to the Women’s Hall of Fame and made an initial appropriation of $6,000 for its operation. The thirteen-member Board of Directors includes the governor, the president of the host institution and representatives from the fields of politics, art, education, business, law, community service, medicine, religion, and science. The agency has sporadically received small state appropriates. Throughout its history, the Hall of Fame’s operations have also depended on financial support provided by its host institution and private donors.
In existence for over fifty years, the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame honors illustrious women in Alabama. Inducting on average two new members each year, the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame creates a bronze plaque and biographical sketch for each member.
The Legislature did not create an Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame until 1987. The Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame recognizes “men native to or identified most closely with the State of Alabama who made significant contributions on a state, national, or international scale within their professional or personal fields of activity and concern.”[21] The Alabama Men’s Hall of Fame is hosted by Samford University in Birmingham.
Judson College hosted the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame from 1970 until 2021, when insurmountable financial struggles led to the college’s closure.[22] Bipartisan legislation authorized a search for a new host institutional in 2021, and the Hall of Fame’s relocation to the University of West Alabama in 2022.[23] Similar to Judson College, the University of West Alabama started as a female academy. During the 2022 Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the University of West Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey signed Act 2022-54. In addition to hosting the plaques, the university hopes to collect memorabilia from former inductees to tell a deeper story. Today, the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame continues to celebrate the diverse achievements of women significant to the Yellowhammer state’s history and culture.
[1] “Milo P. Jewett,” Vassar Encyclopedia, 2005, https://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/presidents/milo-p-jewett/.
[2] Dana L. Robert, “Judson, Ann (‘Nancy’) (Hasseltine),” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998).
[3] Frank Willis Barnett, “Judson Bears Name of Heroic Woman Missionary in Other Lands,” The Birmingham News, November 15, 1925, acessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[4] Lois Gordon, “Bygones of Marion,” The Marion Times-Standard, June 13, 1940, accessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[5] “About Judson,” Judson College, accessed August 5, 2022, http://www.judson.edu/about-judson/
[6] “Adjourned: After a Very Successful Convention. Alabama’s Fair Women Have Cemented Themselves Into a Useful Organization for Artistic, Literary and Practical Development,” The Birmingham News, April 19, 1895, accessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[7] “Federation Women Plan Hall of Fame,” The Anniston Star, December 14, 1937, accessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[8] Katie Sutton Randall, “Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, May 17, 2021, http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-4278.
[9] Alabama Act 1950-646.
[10] Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
[11] Alabama Act 1990-110.
[12] Alabama Acts 1967-225, 1971-2417, 1975-1137, 1977-645, and 1979-663.
[13] James Jones, “Women’s Hall of Fame set for inauguration in state,” Birmingham Post-Herald, June 9, 1970, accessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[14] “Women’s Hall of Fame Directors Hold Initial Meeting at Judson,” The Selma Times-Journal, September 13, 1970, accessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[15] Jones, “Women’s Hall of Fame set for inauguration in state.”
[16] Bill Mathews, “Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, March 8, 2017, http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2981.
[17] “Hall of Fame Inaugurated for Alabama Women,” The Selma Times-Journal, September 28, 1971, accessed August 5, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[18] “Woman Endorsed For Court,” Express and News, September 26, 1971, accessed May 3, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
[19] Joshua Shiver, “Mae Carol Jemison,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, January 27, 2017, http://encyclopediaofalabama. org/article/h-3856.
[20] “Inductees,” Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame, accessed July 30, 2022, http://www.awhf.org/inductee.html.
[21] Alabama Act 1987-717.
[22] “Judson College board of trustees vote to close 183-year-old institution,” accessed May 18, 2022, https://www.judson.edu/2021/08/judson-college-board-of-trustees-vote-to-close-183-year-old-institution/.
[23] Phillip Tutor, “Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame will move to UWA this year,” University of West Alabama, accessed August 5, 2022, https://www.uwa.edu/news/womenshallfame2022
- Representatives of the Women’s Hall of Fame
- Alabama Acts 1950-646, 1967-225, 1971-2417, 1975-1061, 1975-1137, 1977-645, 1978-205, 1979-663 1987-717, 1990-110, 1994-687, and 2022-54.
- Code of Alabama 1975 § 41-9-550 to § 41-9-554
- Archives Division, State Agency Files (1985-ongoing)
- Holdings of the Alabama Department of Archives and History
- Women’s Hall of Fame Website (www.awhf.org)
- Judson College Website (www.judson.edu/)
- University of West Alabama Website (www.uwa.edu)
- “Adjourned: After a Very Successful Convention. Alabama’s Fair Women Have Cemented Themselves Into a Useful Organization for Artistic, Literary and Practical Development.” The Birmingham News. April 19, 1895.
- Barnett, Frank Willis. “Judson Bears Name of Heroic Woman Missionary in Other Lands.” The Birmingham News. November 15, 1925.
- “Federation Women Plan Hall of Fame.” The Anniston Star. December 14, 1937.
- Gordon, Lois. “Bygones of Marion.” The Marion Times-Standard. June 13, 1940.
- “Hall of Fame Inaugurated for Alabama Women.” The Selma Times-Journal. September 28, 1971.
- Jones, James. “Women’s Hall of Fame set for inauguration in state.” Birmingham Post-Herald. June 9, 1970.
- Mathews, Bill. “Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. March 8, 2017. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2981.
- “Milo P. Jewett.” Vassar Encyclopedia. 2005. https://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/ presidents/milo-p-jewett/.
- Randall, Katie Sutton. “Alabama Federation of Women’s Clubs.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. May 17, 2021. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-4278.
- Robert, Dana L. “Judson, Ann (‘Nancy’) (Hasseltine),” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson. New York, NY: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998.
- Shiver, Joshua. “Mae Carol Jemison,” Encyclopedia of Alabama. January 27, 2017. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3856.
- “Woman Endorsed For Court.” Express and News. September 26, 1971.
- “Women’s Hall of Fame Directors Hold Initial Meeting at Judson.” The Selma Times-Journal. September 13, 1970.
For the Record 