Stephanie Stuckey Benfield Equity in Sports Act Collection 1975-2007 (W082)
Stephanie Stuckey Benfield was the representative for the 85th District of the State of Georgia. The collection documents her involvement in drafting and cosponsoring the Equity in Sports Act of 2000 in Georgia. The collection contains background material consulted when drafting the legislation such as other states' laws and reporting mechanisms, information and court cases about Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, federal regulations regarding Title IX, and numerous news articles and editorials about gender equity in sports. Also included are meeting notes, promotional material, and letters of support from constituents.
Valerie Beynon Papers 1990-2009 (W128)
Valerie Beynon co-founded the Southwest Georgia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1993, where she served as president and coordinator for more than 10 years. Her involvement in Georgia led her to serve on Georgia NOW's State Council as well as serve in the two highest leadership roles within the state's chapter, executive vice president and president from 1997-2000. The materials in this collection reflect Beynon's involvement in NOW at the local, state and national levels from 1990-2008, and in the American Association of University Women, 1995-1996.
Chris Carroll Papers 1993-2010 (W112)
Chris Carroll is a real estate broker and women's policy activist in Atlanta, Georgia, who served as a board member for the Women's Policy Group, 1992-2011. Her papers consist of correspondence, handwritten notes, meeting agendas and minutes, reports and other printed material, and financial records, primarily documenting the Women's Policy Group.
Gretta Moll Dewald papers, 1932-2000 [bulk 1977-1980] (W069)
Gretta Moll Dewald (1929-2006) was involved with the Democratic Party of DeKalb County and of Georgia in the late 1960s. She worked on Governor Jimmy Carter's campaign for president in 1976 and served as Chair of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee and on the President's Advisory Committee on Women during his administration. Subsequently, she was Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff for DeKalb County CEO Manuel Maloof. Her papers include correspondence, minutes and agendas, reports, printed material, and artifacts, primarily reflecting her state and national political involvement.
Lorraine Fontana papers 1947-2014 (Q110)
Lorraine Fontana is an activist for the LGBTQ community and has fought for social justice since her early college days. Her papers, 1947-2014 (bulk 1968-2010), include correspondence, conference materials, flyers, notes, programs and publications, representing her activities in Atlanta, New York, and elsewhere.
Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts Collection, 1989-2006 (W130)
The Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts provides support and subject matter expertise on policy, court innovation, legislation, and court administration to all classes of courts. Its collection consists of printed reports, training materials, and audiovisual recordings, as well as a few pieces of correspondence, 1989-2006. The contents primarily relate to women and minorities in the justice system.
Georgia Association for Women Lawyers records, 1916-2016 [bulk 1987-2016] (W151)
The Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL) is a nonprofit corporation serving to support the diverse interests and needs of women lawyers in Georgia. The collection consists of administrative files, programs, scrapbooks, and audio/visual materials ranging from 1916-2016.
Betty Grant Papers, 1976-1991 [bulk 1988-1990] (W123)
Betty Grant served as the president of the Georgia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), 1988-early 1990s. The Betty Grant papers include office files pertaining to the activities of the Georgia NOW during her time serving the organization in various roles, including that of president, as well as photographs and artifacts.
Anne L. Harper Papers 1979-1980; 1995-2004 (W054)
Anne L. Harper is a civic leader in Atlanta, using her expertise as an educator and a business consultant to further the cause of girls' participation in athletics. The Anne L. Harper papers consist of files relating to her effort to draft a state bill and launch activities to further enforce the federal Title IX law.
Lynn Hesse Papers 1985; 2011; undated (W104)
Lynn Hesse is a former policewoman of DeKalb County, Georgia, as well as a playwright, dancer and short story author. The collection primarily documents the sex discrimination case of plaintiff Marsha Cofield, police officer, in 1985 against DeKalb County Government, but also includes some of Hesse's artistic works and her biography and resume.
Phyllis Holmen Papers, 1985-2010 (W109)
The Phyllis Holmen papers document her work as the Treasurer and Board Member of the Women's Policy Group and Women's Policy Education Fund, later known jointly as Georgia Women for a Change, from 1985-2010. The papers include materials such as correspondence, meeting minutes, financial records including budgets, and bylaws.
Liane Levetan Papers, 1963-2011 (W115)
Liane Levetan was the first women elected to the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, where she represented District 2 for 10 years, and in 1993, she was the first female CEO of DeKalb County and served in that position for two terms from 1993-2000. From 2002-2004, Levetan served as a member of the Georgia General Assembly. The materials in this collection reflect Levetan's career prior to, during, and after her time in DeKalb and Georgia politics.
Lee Ague Miller Papers, 1960-1972 (W131)
Nan Orrock Papers, 1969-2010 (W118)
The Nan Grogan Orrock papers include correspondence, printed material, and financial records, that document legislation, political campaigns, and issues Orrock was involved with, 1969-2012 (bulk 1990-2006). The papers are organized in 6 series: Legislative, Campaigns, Organizations, Personal, Research Files, and Digital Materials.
Cathey W. Steinberg Papers, 1981-1982; 1996 (W042)
Cathey W. Steinberg was recognized as a leader for consumer, family, and women's rights during her service in the Georgia House of Representatives (1977-1989) and Georgia Senate (1991-1993). Her papers consist of correspondence, newsclippings, legislation, printed materials, reports, speeches, and campaign materials, 1976-1994, that document her public service and political campaigns.
Women’s Policy Group Records,1990-2008 (W094)
Originally established in 1988 as the Women and Children's Policy Group, the Women's Policy Group (WPG) is a non-profit organization in the state of Georgia with an office in Atlanta. The group's main mission is to bring interested parties together to study the problems that keep women and their families underemployed, impoverished, and underserved in order to find workable solutions. Over the years, the organizations have produced a number of important research papers and projects on a variety of issues impacting women. Correspondence, minutes and agendas, printed material, financial documents, legal documents, and photographs make up the records of Women's Policy Group (WPG).
Kathy Ashe
Legislator, community leader, educator, mother, and volunteer, “raging moderate” Kathy Blee Ashe received her elementary and high school education in the public schools of Tallahassee, Florida. She graduated from Agnes Scott College in 1968, earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Emory University, and did further graduate work at Georgia State University. From 1969-1977 she taught in the Marietta and Cobb County public schools.
Kathy was first elected to the Georgia General Assembly House of Representatives in June of 1991, and as a Representative, she served on the Appropriations, Education, Children and Youth, and Higher Education committees, and was active in the Women’s Caucus and the Georgia House Democratic Caucus. Kathy has served in leadership roles in numerous community organizatins, including the League of Women Voters, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the United Way of Atlanta, the Atlanta Women's Foundation, the Junior League of Atlanta, and Vote Choice. She is a member of Leadreship Atlanta (1988), the Regional Leadership INstitute (1994) and the Atlanta Urban League. She is also an active member of Central Presbyterian Church, where she serves as an elder.
Stephanie Davis
Stephanie Davis is the executive director of Georgia Women For a Change, a non-profit public policy institute with a gender lens, that represents Georgia activists across a spectrum of issues including health care, economic justice and challenging violence against women and girls. Georgia Women for a Change introduced legislation to combat human trafficking and institute flexible sick leave policy. Davis served as the first Policy Advisor on Women's Issues to Mayor Shirley Franklin and in that role, coordinated the "Dear John" campaign to end the prostitution of children in Atlanta. As the first director of the Atlanta Women's Foundation, where she served for 11 years, Davis was responsible for raising several million dollars, establishing an endowment and positioning the Foundation to be the fastest growing women's fund in the country. Davis currently serves on the Board of Synchronicity Theatre and the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She is a graduate of Skidmore College and recieved one of the country's first Masters in women's studies from Goddard College.
Gretta Dewald
Gretta Moll was born in Kutztown, Pennsylvania in 1929. She graduated from Atlanta Girls High School in 1946 and from Agnes Scott College in 1950. She worked as an elementary and high school teacher and was active in PTA and Girl Scouts. She was also very active in her church, teaching Sunday School, organizing children's choirs, and eventually became an Elder -- only the second woman to be chosen by her congregation for that position. Taking an interest in politics, Dewald was involved with several local campaigns, helped organize the Democratic Women of DeKalb, and rose to the presidency of the Democratic Party of DeKalb County in the late 1960s. In 1970, Dewald worked on Jimmy Carter's gubernatorial campaign. In 1972, despite not having been nominated by Governor Carter, she won place as a Georgia Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Miami. During Carter's presidential campaign in 1976, Dewald worked as a grassroots campaigner in the South, in the Midwest, and in New England. After Carter's inauguration, she was asked to work as Chair of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. In 1980, upon Carter's failed bid for re-election, Dewald returned to Atlanta to work for DeKalb County's CEO, Manuel Maloof, as Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff. Serving from 1981 through 1989, she was the only female Executive Assistant in DeKalb County's history. In 1989, Dewald organized the DeKalb County pretrial release program, and managed the system until her retirement in 1994. She died in 2006.
Liane Levetan
Liane Levetan is known for her active role in state and local politics spanning the 1970s to 2000s. In 1975, Levetan became the first woman elected to the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, where she represented District 2 for 10 years and spearheaded the drive for tax breaks for DeKalb property owners who added onto and enhanced existing residential and commercial property. A pioneer teacher in the field of special education, Levetan also initiated a successful bond referendum to fund the DeKalb County Mental Retardation Services Center. From 1993-2000, Levetan served as the CEO of DeKalb County for two terms, and was the first woman elected to the position. Levetan was responsible for the operation of a government that served over 600,000 citizens and had a total annual budget of more than $800 million. Her administration in DeKalb was distinguished by innovative approaches to employee training and performance measures to improve the county's service orientation toward its residents and an emphasis on improving technology.
Through her leadership, an extraordinarily successful culture of collaboration between the public and private sectors won national acclaim for DeKalb, including the prestigious All-America City Award in 1998. The award is given annually by the National Civic League to 10 outstanding local governments across the United States that demonstrates a high degree of collaborative community building. Her leadership was also instrumental in the landmark passage in March 1997 of DeKalb County's innovative Homestead Option Sales Tax, which created a permanent source of revenue for infrastructure improvement and the reduction of property taxes.
For the 2002-2004 term, Levetan served as a member of the Georgia General Assembly. She served on the following committees: Transportation, Education, Special Judiciary, State Institutions and Property, and Ethics. She also holds the distinction of being the only female member of the Ethics Committee. Levetan has always been an active participant in numerous community projects. She has also been active in civic and cultural affairs and her public service career has been characterized by a dedication to neighborhoods, issues of children and elderly citizens, and initiating savings for taxpayers. Sen. Levetan has also utilized her more than three decades of business experience as a licensed real estate broker and public affairs consultant to various corporations. This experience includes a position as an executive consultant for AGL Resources and a position as corporate communications director for Mindus Recycling, a subsidiary of Attwoods. Sen. Levetan also serves on the Omni Bank Community Development Board as a member.
Levetan is the past director of the National Civic League and currently serves on its National Council of Advisors. She is active in the National Association of Counties (NACo), where she played a leadership role on the Unfunded Mandate Task Force and served as vice president of Namco's Taxation and Finance Committee. Georgia Trend magazine has recognized her serveral times as one of Georgia's 100 Most Influential People and in 1993 she was the recipient of the International Women's Forum's "Women That Make A Difference" Award.
Jim Martin
Jim Martin was born in 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia, where he earned a Bachelor’s and a law degree. He then served in Vietnam for two years before returning to Georgia. He worked as a private attorney and as an assistant legislative counsel to the Georgia General Assembly. Martin earned an M.B.A. from Georgia State University (1980). He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1983, serving there until 2001. In 2008, he ran for the United States Senate, losing in a run-off election.
Lee Miller
Before moving to Smyrna GA, in 1964, Lee Ague Miller served for six years as the first female trial attorney for the Federal Trade Commission. Upon her arrival in Georgia, she established the Cobb County Federation of Republican Women (GFRW; now called the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club), and in 1965 was elected president. In this role, she restructured the organization, which, by 1966, had increased in size to include 69 new clubs and 1,642 new members. During the 1966 (Bo) Callaway for Governor campaign, Miller served as director for women’s activities, recruiting approximately 3,000 volunteers who conducted 40,000 interviews in 13 weekly surveys. In 1970, Miller was appointed chair of the NFRW’s Education Committee, and in the position, she developed and conducted a national survey to identify problems in education. In 1984, Miller was one of two women who won the bid to co-chair and organize the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Atlanta. That same year, Miller was responsible for 1.7 million automated voter ID and turnout calls for the Reagan and Republican Party campaigns. Miller continued her work with the GOP for 17 years as a paid consultant for the RNC.
In 1997, after her daughter recovered from a traumatic brain injury, Miller established the Georgia Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. She continues to serve as CEO of the organization.
Eunice Mixon
Eunice Lastinger Mixon was born in Tifton, Georgia, in 1931 to a family of farmers. She married Albert Mixon in 1948, and beginning in 1956 she attended the University of Georgia, attaining a master’s degree and specialist degree in education. She taught eighth-grade science, and high school biology, chemistry and physics for thirty years in the Tift County School System, and was an instructor at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. In 1974, gubernatorial candidate George Busbee, acquainted with Mixon through his advocacy for teachers in the legislature, appointed her as his Tift County campaign chairman, and her success at grassroots organizing gained her a reputation as a valuable political ally in South Georgia. Since then she has campaigned for President Bill Clinton, Senator Sam Nunn, Congressmen Charles Hatcher and Roy Rowland, and Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin. She served as a delegate to the 1988 and 1992 National Democratic Conventions, and as a member of the Georgia Democratic Executive Committee. The Georgia House of Representatives named her one of the twenty-five distinguished women for the twenty-first century. She has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Georgia Student Finance Commission, Vocational Education Task Force, Advisory Council on Consolidation of Education Programs, Georgia Civil War Commission, Joint Board Liaison Committee, and the Georgia State Bar Disciplinary Board. She is currently the doorkeeper to the state senate.
Non Orrock
Eleanor Richardson
Eleanor Low Richardson, born in Everett, Massachusetts in 1913, graduated from high school and completed one year of secretarial school. After working in Boston for an insurance company, Richardson moved to the Atlanta area and has been a Decatur resident for over 25 years. She died in February 2006. During her time in the Atlanta area, Richardson participated in women's advocacy and politics. She served as the president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia and DeKalb County and as a Democratic representative of DeKalb County in the Georgia House of Representatives (1975-1990). During her time in office, Richardson's legislative priorities included health issues, the elimination of laws that discriminate against women and the elderly, and tax relief for the elderly. She was chair of the Community Development Advisory Council of the Atlanta Regional Commission, the DeKalb County Community Relations Commission, Georgians for Quality Education, and the Church Women United of Georgia and DeKalb County. She also served as board member of several organizations including the Metropolitan Area Mental Health Association, DeKalb Community Council on Aging, the Mountain View Rest Home, and the Georgia Council on Moral and Civic Concerns. Richardson was appointed to the Governor's Council on Mental Health and Retardation Special Study Committees on Troubled Children, the DeKalb County Advisory Council (Chairman), and the Central DeKalb Community Mental Health/Mental Retardation Advisory Council. Because of her extensive work in church and civic groups, Richardson received several awards honoring her contributions to the community: She received the Woman of Achievement Award from Decatur Business and Professional Women in 1976; the Leading Ladies of Atlanta J.C. Singles Award in 1977; the Friend of Children from the Child Advocacy Coalition (1977-80); and the Valiant Woman Award from Church Women United in 1977.
Cathey Steinberg
Cathey W. Steinberg, born in 1942, is recognized and admired as a leader for women's rights through her work in the Georgia House of Representatives (1977-1989 District 46 DeKalb County) where she was the primary sponsor of the 1981-1982 ERA legislation. She also served in the Georgia Senate (1991-1993 District 42). While in office, Steinberg introduced legislation which would minimize pressure on rape victims. Steinberg received a B.A. from Carnegie-Mellon Institute and a M.A. degree in guidance counseling from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a consultant in public and community relations and marketing, and a frequent guest speaker and lecturer. From 1993 until June 1999, she was the managing partner for Ahead of the Curve, a public policy consulting and advocacy training firm. In July 1999, Governor Roy Barnes appointed Cathey Steinberg Georgia's first Consumer Insurance Advocate. She left the post in March 2003.
Sarah Weddington
Sarah Weddington was born in Abilene, Texas in 1945. After receiving her J.D. degree from the University of Texas, School of Law in 1967, Weddington began a career in law and politics, with a strong interest in women's rights. In 1973, shortly after completing law school, Weddington worked pro bono to represent a group of women who had established an abortion referral program at the University of Texas. Through this association, she successfully argued the landmark case Roe v Wade, and in doing so, became the youngest person to win a case before the Supreme Court. Also in 1973, Weddington began her political career by becoming the first woman elected to the Texas House of Representatives. She continued to serve in this position for three terms. From 1978 until 1981, Weddington served as Assistant to President Jimmy Carter and directed the Administration's work on women's issues and leadership outreach. In 1977, she became the first woman to hold the position of General Counsel of the US Department of Agriculture, and was the first female Director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations from 1983 until 1985. In addition to her successful political career, Weddington worked with the community to establish women's equal rights by helping to establish the Foundation for Women's Resources. This organization sponsored activities such as the Leadership Texas and Leadership America programs and created the Women's Museum that opened in Dallas in September 2000. Because of her extensive work in politics and community service, especially through women's advocacy, Weddington has received numerous awards and honors: In 1999 she was named Texas Woman of the Century by the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Texas and in 1998 was given the Leadership America's Hummingbird Award for contributions toward the advancement of women's leadership. Also, the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders awarded Weddington the Woman of Distinction Award (1993), and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America gave her the Margaret Sanger Award, the highest award of the organization. She was named one of Esquire Magazine's top ten ""Outstanding Women in America"" and was given the Ladies' Home Journal Woman of the Future Award. Weddington also holds honorary doctorates from McMurray University, Hamilton College, Austin College, Southwestern University, and Nova Southeastern University.
Cathy Woolard
Special Collections and Archives
Archives for Research on Women and Gender
Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives
Lucy Hargrett Draper Collections on Women's Rights, Advocacy, and the Law
Phone: (404) 413-2880
E-Mail: archives@gsu.edu
Mailing Address:
Special Collections & Archives
Georgia State University Library
100 Decatur Street, SE
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3202
In Person:
Library South, 8th floor
