Hattie Hooker Wilkins

Hattie Wilkins (née Hooker) (July 28, 1875 – 1949) was an American progressive era suffragist and women's rights activist who is best known for being the first woman elected to a seat in the Alabama Legislature.[1] She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1997.[2]

Hattie Hooker Wilkins
Born
Hattie Hooker

(1875-07-28)July 28, 1875
Selma, Alabama
Died1949 (aged 73–74)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materNormal College Nashville, Tennessee
OccupationPolitician, Suffragist
Spouse(s)
Joseph G. Wilkins
(
m. 1898)

Family and early life

Hattie Hooker, the daughter of Frederick Josiah Hooker and Alexina (Fellows) Hooker, was born on July 28, 1875, at Selma, Alabama in Dallas County.[3] Hattie was educated at Boss Calloway's School in Selma, and later attended Normal College in Nashville, Tennessee to prepare to teach school.[1] Along with all of her schooling she was also involved with the local church, the Broad Streed Presbyterian Church. After graduating in 1894, she began a career teaching up until she got married. In 1898 Hattie married Joseph G. Wilkins, an industrialist, and they resided in Selma. Together they had four children, although one of her children died at the age of three after drinking lye water.[4] When her family was asked about her most noteworthy accomplishments, they answered with, "her most significant accomplishment was that of wife and mother, and maker of a beautiful home that is a center of refinement and those lovely characteristics that go to make the perfect home life."[5]

Suffragist and women's rights activist

Wilkins was one of the first suffragists in the state of Alabama. Wilkins was a founding member of the Alabama Equal Suffrage Association and the Alabama League of Women Voters.[1] Wilkins explained her ardor for women's rights, along with the right to vote with the following statement, "Self-direction or freedom of choice is necessary to the highest mental and spiritual development of a human being. Because democracy gives to each person this opportunity for development, democracy is right. Because democracy is right, Woman Suffrage is right."[5]

Legislator

After women gained suffrage, Wilkins stayed involved in politics and in 1922, she was one of three candidates for a seat in the 1923 Alabama Legislature. Wilkins beat the incumbent candidate for the Alabama House of Representatives, and became the first woman elected to a seat in the Alabama Legislature .[6] Wilkins joined the legislature as a democrat with the belief that in a nation of both men and women, the government should cater to the needs of men and women alike. Her main agenda was aimed towards reforming education, healthcare and the special needs of her constituents while being head of the committee on public health. Her efforts as a legislator gained the respect of her colleagues with in the legislation. She decided not to run for a second term but upon leaving she was gifted, by her colleagues, with and inscribed cup that said, "To Mrs. Wilkins, the First Woman Member of the Alabama House of Representatives, a Token of Esteem From Her Fellow Members, 1923." [5]

Death and legacy

Wilkins died in 1949.[1] In 1977, Wilkins was selected as one of twenty-five Alabama women who were highlighted in the historical exhibit, "Faces and Voices of Alabama Women". This exhibit is a permanent collection at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. After being highlighted in this historical exhibit she was once again memorialized in 1997 when she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. This was hosted by Judson College in Marion, Perry County.[7]

gollark: ++remind 2d11m or merely to invoke humor, or perhaps simply for the joy of constructing a novel paradigm of programming.
gollark: ++remind 2d8m for general, practical use in, for example, the software industry, or more generally the production of software which satisfies some kind of user need, and instead is designed purely for recreational purposes, whether in order to serve as a demonstration for an argument of some form [cont]
gollark: Will do, hold on.
gollark: ++remind 2d3m produce the specification for a form of language designed for providing instructions to computational devices (not necessary limited to real or practical computational hardware) and yet which is not suitable and/or intended [cont]
gollark: ++remind 2d Human individual using the Discord account with the identification number 319753218592866315 (three hundred nineteen quadrillion seven hundred fifty-three trillion two hundred eighteen billion five hundred ninety-two million eight hundred sixty-six thousand three hundred fifteen), [cont]

References
  1. "Hattie Hooker Wilkins (1875-1949)". The Alabama Women's Hall of Fame Profile. Marion, Alabama: The Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. 2000. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  2. "Inductees". Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. State of Alabama. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
  3. State of Alabama and Thomas McAdory Owen. (1923) Alabama Official and Statistical Register. [Montgomery]: State of Alabama, Dept. of Archives and History. Accessed on 29 March 2010
  4. "Hattie Hooker Wilkins | Encyclopedia of Alabama". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  5. "Women Wielding Power-Alabama". www.nwhm.org. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  6. Rogers, William Warren (1994). William Warren Rogers (ed.). Alabama: The History of a Deep South State. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0712-5. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  7. "Hattie Hooker Wilkins | Encyclopedia of Alabama". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.