Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Grace Towns Hamilton
Grace Towns Hamilton (February 10, 1907 – June 17, 1992) was an American politician who was the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly. As executive director of the Atlanta Urban League from 1943 to 1960, Hamilton was involved in issues of housing, health care, schools and voter registration within the black community. She was 1964 co-founder of the bi-racial Partners for Progress to help government and the private sector effect compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1973, Hamilton became a principal architect for the revision of the Atlanta City Charter. She was advisor to the United States Civil Rights Commission from 1985 to 1987.
Grace Towns was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 10, 1907, to community activist parents George Alexander Towns Sr. and Nellie McNair Towns. She was the second of five children. Her sister Helen had died in 1905. Grace was followed by siblings George Jr. in 1909, Myron in 1910 and Harriet in 1920. The Towns family lived at University Place at Atlanta University, where the children's playmates were racially mixed. Atlanta University had been integrated since the 19th century. The family belonged to the First Congregational Church, where the members were active in civic affairs. Nellie Towns was involved in many outreach endeavors of the church. Grace joined the church's Atlanta Interracial Student Forum, and also became an active member of the YWCA.
George Alexander Towns Sr. was an educator, poet and playwright who received degrees from both Atlanta University and Harvard University. At Atlanta University he taught English, Pedagogy and debate skills until his 1929 retirement. His professional colleagues included James Weldon Johnson and W. E. B. Du Bois. Towns was active in civic affairs, an officer of the NAACP, and an advocate for voter registration drives in the black community. He was born one of six children on March 5, 1870, in Albany, Georgia, to former slave Luke Towns Jr. and Mary Colt, said to be of Indian blood. Luke Towns Sr., born to an enslaved woman, was fathered by a white man named John Towns, who was also the father of George Washington Towns. Luke Towns Sr. wed a Cherokee woman named Maria. George Alexander Towns Sr. died December 20, 1960.
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 First Congregational Church in Atlanta. After marrying George Towns in 1902, she engaged in community outreach programs sponsored by her church. She also helped found the Gate City Free Kindergarten Association for the children of working black parents. She was the first black woman to serve on the board of Atlanta's YWCA. Her mother Hattie McNair lived with the family until her death. Nellie McNair Towns died on May 11, 1967.
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. The couple's only child, Eleanor, was born in 1931. Cookie died on January 2, 1987.
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. 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.
Prior to her marriage, Grace Towns had taught at both Clark College and the Atlanta School of Social Work. At the time of the marriage, Cookie Hamilton served in the capacity of both professor and dean at LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. The new Mrs. Hamilton joined the faculty at LeMoyne as a professor of psychology. In 1934, she became a statistic of the Great Depression when she was one of several employees laid off. Until 1941, she associated herself with the Memphis branch of the YWCA where she helped to establish the first Negro YWCA in the city. In 1935, she was hired to supervise a survey for the WPA on the black labor force in Shelby County. The result was published by the United States Government Printing Office in 1938 as The Urban Negro Worker in the United States, 1925–1936. In 1941, Cookie Hamilton accepted a position at Atlanta University, and the couple returned to their home city where Grace took advantage of her career downtime to enhance her education.
An affiliate of the National Urban League, the Atlanta Urban League (AUL) had been established in 1919 by Jesse O. Thomas. When the organization's executive director William Y. Bell left for other opportunities in 1943, civil rights attorney A.T. Walden suggested his friend Hamilton be named to fill the position. She held this position until 1960, and under her guidance the organization's board of directors became integrated to include influential whites among the members.
Hub AI
Grace Towns Hamilton AI simulator
(@Grace Towns Hamilton_simulator)
Grace Towns Hamilton
Grace Towns Hamilton (February 10, 1907 – June 17, 1992) was an American politician who was the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly. As executive director of the Atlanta Urban League from 1943 to 1960, Hamilton was involved in issues of housing, health care, schools and voter registration within the black community. She was 1964 co-founder of the bi-racial Partners for Progress to help government and the private sector effect compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1973, Hamilton became a principal architect for the revision of the Atlanta City Charter. She was advisor to the United States Civil Rights Commission from 1985 to 1987.
Grace Towns was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 10, 1907, to community activist parents George Alexander Towns Sr. and Nellie McNair Towns. She was the second of five children. Her sister Helen had died in 1905. Grace was followed by siblings George Jr. in 1909, Myron in 1910 and Harriet in 1920. The Towns family lived at University Place at Atlanta University, where the children's playmates were racially mixed. Atlanta University had been integrated since the 19th century. The family belonged to the First Congregational Church, where the members were active in civic affairs. Nellie Towns was involved in many outreach endeavors of the church. Grace joined the church's Atlanta Interracial Student Forum, and also became an active member of the YWCA.
George Alexander Towns Sr. was an educator, poet and playwright who received degrees from both Atlanta University and Harvard University. At Atlanta University he taught English, Pedagogy and debate skills until his 1929 retirement. His professional colleagues included James Weldon Johnson and W. E. B. Du Bois. Towns was active in civic affairs, an officer of the NAACP, and an advocate for voter registration drives in the black community. He was born one of six children on March 5, 1870, in Albany, Georgia, to former slave Luke Towns Jr. and Mary Colt, said to be of Indian blood. Luke Towns Sr., born to an enslaved woman, was fathered by a white man named John Towns, who was also the father of George Washington Towns. Luke Towns Sr. wed a Cherokee woman named Maria. George Alexander Towns Sr. died December 20, 1960.
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 First Congregational Church in Atlanta. After marrying George Towns in 1902, she engaged in community outreach programs sponsored by her church. She also helped found the Gate City Free Kindergarten Association for the children of working black parents. She was the first black woman to serve on the board of Atlanta's YWCA. Her mother Hattie McNair lived with the family until her death. Nellie McNair Towns died on May 11, 1967.
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. The couple's only child, Eleanor, was born in 1931. Cookie died on January 2, 1987.
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. 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.
Prior to her marriage, Grace Towns had taught at both Clark College and the Atlanta School of Social Work. At the time of the marriage, Cookie Hamilton served in the capacity of both professor and dean at LeMoyne–Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee. The new Mrs. Hamilton joined the faculty at LeMoyne as a professor of psychology. In 1934, she became a statistic of the Great Depression when she was one of several employees laid off. Until 1941, she associated herself with the Memphis branch of the YWCA where she helped to establish the first Negro YWCA in the city. In 1935, she was hired to supervise a survey for the WPA on the black labor force in Shelby County. The result was published by the United States Government Printing Office in 1938 as The Urban Negro Worker in the United States, 1925–1936. In 1941, Cookie Hamilton accepted a position at Atlanta University, and the couple returned to their home city where Grace took advantage of her career downtime to enhance her education.
An affiliate of the National Urban League, the Atlanta Urban League (AUL) had been established in 1919 by Jesse O. Thomas. When the organization's executive director William Y. Bell left for other opportunities in 1943, civil rights attorney A.T. Walden suggested his friend Hamilton be named to fill the position. She held this position until 1960, and under her guidance the organization's board of directors became integrated to include influential whites among the members.