Grace Towns Hamilton was the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly.
Born in Atlanta on February 10, 1907, Grace was the oldest of four surviving children of Harriet McNair and George Alexander Towns. Her
Grace Towns Hamilton was the first African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly.
Born in Atlanta on February 10, 1907, Grace was the oldest of four surviving children of Harriet McNair and George Alexander Towns. Her father was the son of a former slave and the grandson of the unacknowledged half-brother of George Washington Towns, a Georgia governor. Educated at Atlanta University, her father completed a second bachelor’s degree at Harvard before becoming a professor of English and Pedagogy at Atlanta University for the next 30 years. Grace’s mother also graduated from Atlanta University, and taught elementary education before devoting herself to family.
Atlanta University was a haven for young Grace. Its insular community provided a unique opportunity to enjoy freedom of ideas while sheltering her from racism. Many years later she reflected on the circumstances of those years: “Yet my sheltered upbringing was a disadvantage, too. I had gone through high school and college in Atlanta University and didn’t learn what the real world is like until…I got a job.”
Having received a bachelor’s degree in 1927, Grace transferred to Ohio State University for graduate study in Psychology. While a student there, she accepted a position as Girl’s Work Secretary with the Young Women’s Christian Association of Columbus. It was her first job.
Taking her Master’s degree in 1929, Grace returned to Atlanta to teach at Clark College and the Atlanta School of Social Work. In 1930 she married Henry Cooke Hamilton. Originally from Atlanta, Henry was a faculty member of LeMoyne College in Memphis, Tennessee. The couple lived in Memphis for a decade. Their first and only child, Eleanor, was born there in 1931. Balancing family and professional life, Grace taught Psychology at Le Moyne College and later conducted government surveys before joining the national staff of the YWCA, for which she developed interracial programs on college campuses.
In 1941 Henry accepted a position as head of Atlanta University’s high school program. Returning to her hometown, Grace immersed herself in the Atlanta community. Beginning in 1943 she served as executive director of the Atlanta Urban League. Under her leadership the AUL waged intens