1907 Civil rights activist and politician Grace Towns Hamilton was born in

Atlanta, Georgia. She received her undergraduate degree from hometown

Atlanta University, before completing her master's degree at Ohio State

Univesity. She held teaching positions at the Atlanta School of Social

Work, Clark College, and LeMoyne College in Memphis, while maintaining an

active interest in the civil rights movement. Hamilton served as executive

director of the Atlanta Urban League from 1943-1960, and also sat on the

board of the Southern Regional Council and the Governor's Commission on the

Status of Women, as well as many other voluntary positions. But she made

her most lasting mark by becoming the first

African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1965. She

served in Georgia House of Representatives until 1984. Today, a chair in the

Emory University political science department is named in her honor.