Lettie Pate Whitehead

Letitia "Lettie" Pate Whitehead Evans (February 21, 1872 in Bedford County, Virginia – November 14, 1953 in Hot Springs, Virginia) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She was the first woman to be on Coca-Cola's board of directors.

Born in Bedford County, Virginia to Cornelius Pate and Elizabeth Stagg Pate, Lettie enjoyed private education and other luxuries afforded to a member of one of Virginia's most established families. She married Joseph Brown Whitehead, an attorney, in 1895, and the couple moved to Chattanooga shortly thereafter. They had two sons, Joseph Brown Whitehead, Jr., and Conkey Pate Whitehead.

The Whiteheads' successful business careers began in 1899, when Joseph Whitehead and an associate approached The Coca-Cola Company with the idea of bottling their beverages. The company granted Joseph Whitehead and his associate an exclusive contract. The Whitehead family moved to Atlanta in 1903 in order to expand their thriving bottling business. Lettie and Joseph Whitehead soon became business and community leaders in the area.

In 1906, Joseph Brown Whitehead unexpectedly died from pneumonia while on a trip visiting Lettie's parents. Lettie, age 34 and with two young sons (Joseph Jr. and Conkey), immediately took over the family's business affairs and real estate assets. She assumed leadership of the Whitehead Holding Company and Whitehead Realty Company, and actively managed the bottling operation (then 80 plants), eventually with her sons' assistance.

Lettie remarried to Colonel Arthur Kelly Evans, a retired Canadian Army officer, in 1913. They made their home in Hot Springs, Virginia.

...
Wikipedia