Grace Towns Hamilton
| Grace Towns Hamilton | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 137th, 112th and 31st district |
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In office 1966–1984 |
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| Succeeded by | Mable Thomas |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 10, 1907 Atlanta, Georgia |
| Died | June 17, 1992 (aged 85) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Resting place | South View Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Henry Cooke Hamilton |
| Children | Eleanor |
| Alma mater |
Atlanta University Ohio State University |
Grace Towns Hamilton (February 10, 1907 – June 17, 1992) 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 freed slave Luke Towns Jr. and Mary Colt, said to be of Indian blood. Luke Towns Sr. was a slave 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.
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