Author: WOAmemphis17

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Marion Griffin

Women of Achievement
1996

HERITAGE
for a woman whose achievements still enrich our lives:

Marion Griffin

Marion Griffin was not only the first woman licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee, she was also the first woman elected to the Tennessee General Assembly.

“Miss Marion” was born and raised in Greensboro, Georgia, but began her legal career in Memphis as a legal stenographer in the office of Judge Thomas M. Scruggs. She read law under Judge Scruggs, presented herself for examination of her knowledge of law to both Chancellor DeHaven and Circuit Court Judge Estes, was found eminently qualified to practice law by both of them and was so certified on Feb. 15, 1900.

It was the custom then and for many years afterward for an aspirant to the legal profession to study law under the tutelage of a practicing lawyer who, when he thought the aspirant sufficiently knowledgeable, referred him to a sitting judge of the local Circuit Court and to a sitting chancellor of the local Chancery Court. The judge and chancellor in turn tested the professional competency of the aspirant for admission to the bar. The Tennessee Supreme Court then issued a license to the aspirant and he was free to practice law throughout the state.

Although Marion was properly certified by two sitting judges of distinction as ready for admission to the bar, and although she petitioned the Tennessee Supreme Court in both 1900 and 1901, she was twice barred solely on the basis of her gender.

She then enrolled in the School of Law of the University of Michigan and in 1906 earned the degree of Bachelor of Laws. She was one of only two women in her class at the University of Michigan Law School. She would have preferred to enroll at the School of Law at the University of Virginia where members of her family had gone, but it did not accept women at that time or for many years thereafter.

Fortified by certification from two sitting judges and a law degree from one of America’s pre-eminent law schools, either of which would have been sufficient to get a male admitted to practice law, Marion Griffin then began the process of energizing the Tennessee Legislature to pass an act giving women the right to practice law in the jurisdiction. At first she was, in her words, “greeted with wisecracks and guffaws,” but she persisted and ultimately the bill was passed on Feb. 13, 1907 and approved by Governor Malcolm Patterson on Feb. 15, 1907.

On July 1, 1907, Marion Griffin became the first woman admitted to practice law by the Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee, and was sworn in and enrolled as a member of the local bar.

She practiced law in Memphis for more than 40 years from an office located variously on Main Street, on Court Avenue and for many years in the Goodwyn Institute Building on the southwest corner of Third and Madison, the present site of the First Tennessee Bank building.

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Mary Alice Hubbard McWilliams

Women of Achievement
2004

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Mary Alice Hubbard McWilliams

Mary Alice Hubbard McWilliams crafted successful citizens and executives in many fields during more than 50 years as a senior high school mathematics teacher and leader in her church and community.

Teachers, engineers, legal and medical professionals, and government officials name her as the singular key influence in their education and success. Among them are Mayor W. W. Herenton, former city school Supt. Johnnie B. Watson, City Councilman Joe Brown, school principal Cassandra Smith and Spelman College professor Dr. Gloria Wade Gayles. They called her “difficult’’ and “tough as nails.’’ She says, “I’m firm. It must be right … I don’t play school.’’

Herenton has said, “What I loved about her was Mrs. McWilliams stayed after class with me and some of the other students who had difficulties. She would take her planning period and keep working through her lunch hour. She worked after school. She really cared about us.’’

Mary Alice grew up in Memphis in a family of nine children. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics at LeMoyne-Owen College and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois with post-graduate work at Memphis State College.

She began teaching at Magnolia School in 1950 but soon transferred to Booker T. Washington High School where she taught Herenton and former school board member Carl Johnson. In 1971, she was moved to Memphis Tech, but returned to Washington High at Herenton’s request in 1986 and retired from Carver High in 1999.

She is one of four generations of educators in her family. “I always loved working with children. I believed everybody could learn and deserved to be taught.’’ She was the first black woman elected president of the Memphis Education Association. It was during her term that teachers bought the building on Flicker and negotiated their first master contract with the city Board of Education.

She was a strong advocate, leader and spokesperson in the Civil Rights struggle. She was a member of Women on the Move for Equality and committees that dealt with discrimination and social equality.

At Second Congregational United Church of Christ and with the national denomination, she was at the forefront in the struggle to deal with racism and sexism. She served on numerous committees, boards and as panel moderator and spokesperson. She traveled extensively for the church as president of the UCC Black Women’s Caucus and as a member of the national UCC’s Task Force on Women in the Church and Society, and the Advisory Commission on Women. She was honored as an outstanding national leader.

Mary Alice Hubbard McWilliams held her students to rigorous standards and high expectations, boosting them toward achievement and success while working just as hard for change and progress in the larger community and her church.

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Nancy Bogatin

Women of Achievement
2003

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Nancy Bogatin

When Nancy Bogatin opened the Studio of Advertising and Art in 1956, women who worked were called “working girls.’’ Those in advertising were expected to be models, not managing partners in their own agencies. Doing the expected was not on Nancy’s “to do” list, then or ever.

For more than 50 years, as a business, civic and volunteer leader, Nancy has made changes across Memphis.

Nancy graduated from Central High School in 1943 and earned her journalism and advertising degree at University of Missouri in 1946. She worked briefly as a copywriter and program personality on WMPS radio in Memphis before big-city lights lured her to a job as promotion director, and later as sportswear buyer, for Sears, Roebuck & Co. in New York City, her hometown.

In 1952, after, she says, “visiting my mother once too often,’’ Nancy returned to Memphis to marry Irvin Bogatin. Although most wives in their circle did not work, Nancy “got a little job’’ as director of special promotions as Lowenstein’s opened for business. A year later, her first entrepreneurial venture opened, a women’s ready-to-wear specialty shop called Casuals, Memphis. She was its owner, merchandiser and operator for three years, until she and Martha ‘Ham’ Embree opened the Studio. Eventually, as Nancy says, “we had the best retail roster in town,’’ among them Seessel’s, James Davis, Haas and Catherine’s.

After 25 years, in 1981, she sold her interest in Studio of Advertising and Art and formed NEB, Inc. For a decade, she continued working as an advertising consultant for clients while also performing the same service for not-for-profit groups on a pro bono basis.

She was the first woman to hold top leadership posts in several Memphis organizations. She headed the boards at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Goals for Memphis, Memphis Literacy Council and the Friends Foundation at Brooks Museum. Nancy was also vice president of the Memphis Arts Council board.

In recent years, despite a fight against cancer, Nancy has been an increasingly important leader in key education initiatives. She is especially devoted to Partners in Public Education, which she helped found. She has served as chair and continues to advocate and bolster the organization. She was a member of Mayor William Morris’ Task Force on Education, the Memphis Youth Initiative, the president’s councils at Rhodes and Christian Brothers University, the Governor’s Education Commission for Tennessee 2000 and was co-chair of Memphis 2000 education initiative.

She also is very involved in The Grant Center, whose mission is to strengthen non-profit organizations through education and support.

Nancy Bogatin’s consistent service, leadership, energy and creativity have made Memphis a more dynamic community. Even after a lifetime of achievement, and 12 years past her “retirement,’’ she continues to work steadfastly to give all Memphians a chance at a good future through a good education.

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Fannie Belle Burnett

Women of Achievement
2002

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Fannie Belle Burnett

Fannie Belle Burnett has devoted her professional life to raising money for good causes – and raising the next generation of fundraisers.

When Fannie Belle became the fourth executive director of Girls Club of Memphis in 1964, her only work experience was as a volunteer church youth director and mother to her own four children. But she knew how to take charge. She had worked for an employment agency and rose to become regional manager for Tupperware. She later became the primary support to her children and shared her home with various cousins.

When she joined the Girls Club, the board had just purchased its first facility and assumed a mortgage of more than $30,000. That year’s audit funding was $11,000 and girls’ memberships totaled 100. During Fannie Belle’s 14-year stint, the agency paid off its mortgage, added two centers, diversified its clients and staff, produced girls who received national recognition and tackled serious issues of growing up female in our society.

Under her leadership, Girls Incorporated of Memphis earned a national reputation for program excellence in areas like sexuality, employment and discrimination. By the late 1970s, Girls Inc. of Memphis had a budget of more than $400,000 and served 3,000 young people in three centers. In 1978, Fannie Belle became the first National Director of Program Development for Girls Inc. Under her leadership, three program areas were developed – youth employment, juvenile justice, and family life education. In addition, she was a critical participant in planning and executing the first nationwide conference dedicated to exploring the needs of girls – The Wingspread Conference – “Today’s Girls, Tomorrow’s Women.” Since Fannie Belle had honed her skills in fundraising, especially grant writing, she led the team that secured the funding to build the Girls Incorporated National Resource Center in Indianapolis. Today this center serves as the hub of research, program development and training for Girls Inc.

In the 1980s, Fannie Belle returned to Memphis. She worked in development for Youth Service Memphis/USA, and then established the Support Center of Memphis to help foster nonprofits. She was cofounder of the Memphis Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives and helped raise millions of dollars for the Memphis Zoo, Memphis Theological Seminary and Memphis Botanic Garden. “She seems to have always been operating on two tracks,’’ her nominator said, “seeing to the needs of her organization and bringing along others in the field.’’ In 1992, she was named director of LeMoyne-Owen College’s capital campaign. Three years later she became interim vice president for investment and helped manage the school during a search for a new president.

Now retired, Fannie Belle volunteers her skills with many groups. Another nominator captured her legacy: “Fannie Belle has mentored children, youth and adults, ‘walking her talk’ with a firm but gentle manner. Indeed, Memphis is a different place, and a better place, because of her steadfast vision in a future that is brighter than our present.”

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Lois Freeman

Women of Achievement
2001

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Lois Freeman

For decades, Lois Freeman has worked steadfastly for equal rights for women and minorities, for voters’ rights, for opportunities for individuals with disabilities, for better lives for children and for open community dialog and discussion.

Raised in segregated communities in a loving family environment in East Tennessee, Lois married and moved to West Tennessee in 1951. In Memphis she became conscious of the inequities of society and began what was to become a lifetime of activism. In 1964, at the height of the Civil Rights struggle, Lois was one of a biracial group of women who began the integration of restaurants in Memphis simply by showing up for lunch at a different location every Saturday. After the addition of women to the Civil Rights Act in 1972, she became active in voter registration drives in Mississippi. There was still an atmosphere of violence so workers drove unmarked cars and spent nights away from the communities in which they were working. More than 30 years later, she was recertified by the Department of Justice as an official election observer.

Recognizing that the way to change is through politics, Lois has served as president of the Memphis Women’s Political Caucus and has been active in the Democratic Party. Through these organizations she has worked on behalf of candidates who support the causes in which she deeply believes. Among those whom Lois has helped elect to public office are Judge Bernice Donald, U.S. Attorney Veronica Coleman, City Councilwomen Mary Rose McCormick and Barbara Swearingen-Holt and State Representatives Carol Chumney, Henri Brooks and Kathryn Bowers.

Throughout her career in human resources, Lois observed all kinds of discrimination in the workplace. In the late 1970s, Lois cofounded the Equal Employment Opportunity Council of Greater Memphis. This marked the beginning of a network referral system and exchange of job information, which resulted in improved job opportunities for minorities and women. She served as president of the organization and was a member of the Governor’s Committee for the Handicapped.

Always interested in women’s issues, Lois has worked with the YWCA since 1985. She chaired the 1991–1993 Abused Women’s Services Committee and oversaw the opening of a second shelter. Lois is a founding member of the Public Issues Forum, a group dedicated to providing a medium for the public discussion essential to a healthy and progressive society.

Believing that children are our future, Lois serves on the board of Tennessee Mentorship, a group that works with at-risk children ages 3–6. She also is active with EdPac, which promotes opportunities to improve public schools and endorses effective school board candidates.

When asked which of her many endeavors has been most meaningful, she identified her work during the Civil Rights movement. What Lois has learned from her life of activism is that our future lies in appreciating diversity and respecting cultures different from our own. Lois’ steadfast efforts over the decades are clear proof of that belief.

Lois Freeman passed away on May 17, 2018.

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Elizabeth Toles

Women of Achievement
2000

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Elizabeth Toles

One of the quiet heroines in Memphis is Elizabeth Toles, a former schoolteacher who has been steadfast in her support for others for all of her 79 years. During her 32 years in the classroom, before retiring in 1975, she was highly regarded for her kindness, her emphasis on excellence, and her active community service.

Elizabeth was born blind and left motherless at three weeks of age when her mother died. Her sight in one eye returned at age nine and she has proceeded to spend a lifetime teaching others how to overcome obstacles. Elizabeth has received numerous awards, citations, and recognition from all walks of life. In 1969, during the days of heightened racial tensions, she donated half a commercial building at 1277 Mississippi for the Memphis Police Department to use as a community service center – because she saw the need.

She currently pastors the Church of Good Fellowship, which she began in 1985. She strongly advocates tithing so much that she gives 10 percent of her church’s monthly income to help college students. Her church donates another one percent of its monthly revenue to MIFA to help feed the hungry. She teaches Bible study at King’s Daughters and Sons Home and sponsors a Thanksgiving dinner there annually.

The praise for Elizabeth’s good works is voluminous. She has been written about in national publications and received recognition from mayors, governors and the U.S. Congress.

She has helped send young people to college, provided stability for children whose families were in crisis, and given money anonymously to help many people – young and old – with their dreams. At her church’s Pastor Appreciation Day, one young woman said, “When I was a little girl, I thought Elizabeth Toles was a millionaire. She helped everybody!”

Her life has been an example of steadfastness – devotion to God and devotion to helping others.

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Carlotta Stewart Watson

Women of Achievement
1999

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Carlotta Stewart Watson

Carlotta Stewart Watson devoted her life to making a positive impact on children, particularly those she called “the forgotten students.”

Her 98 years have been marked by significant accomplishments including becoming the first woman of color certified as a guidance counselor in the Memphis City Schools where she served for 54 years. With a bachelor’s degree in education from LeMoyne-Owen College, she earned a master’s degree in education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and traveled to South America, Africa and Europe “to increase my ability to serve more effectively.”

She escorted high school and college students to Atlantic City in the 1940s for employment opportunities so they could gain work experience and money needed to fund their education. In the 1950s she launched the first job clinic/job fair for students, which later became known as Career Day. In the 1960s she established the Carlotta Stewart Scholarship Fund to help deserving students.

Carlotta played a significant role in the fundraising to purchase the first site for a branch YWCA in 1942 as well as the second site in 1962. She has served the YWCA in a variety of leadership positions. She also founded the first Basileus of Alpha Eta Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority in 1939. She later helped open the organization’s Stork’s Nest Center, a project with the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation seeking to provide assistance to women and their babies. Her volunteerism also extends to working at WDIA, helping to link community members with agencies to meet their needs, and playing the role of “Aunt Carrie,” giving advice to young people. She is an active member of Mt. Pisgah CME Church where the fellowship hall is named for her. For the past 15 years, she has read newspapers and books on Memphis Public Library radio.

In February 1999, she received the first Comforter Award from the Tennessee Black Heritage Celebration for a person who embodies dedication to the uplifting of the minds and spirit of young people.

Carlotta’s steadfast goal has been “to remain on the ‘stage’ until ‘the last curtain call’ while striving to keep involved in activities … that will make me worthy of being loved, respected – and not alone.”

Carlotta is 104 this year and continues to attend community events.

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Jeanne Dreifus

Women of Achievement
1998

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Jeanne Dreifus

Jeanne Dreifus could have led a comfortable life of home, children, and community board memberships, but she chose to be more – a lot more.

Twenty years ago, she brought the seed of an idea to the University of Memphis (formerly Memphis State University) for a youth agency to divert kids from the juvenile justice system. From its concentration on youth, the Human Services Co-Op soon included agencies for all ages. Out of the linkages that developed among the various agencies grew a number of grassroots community organizations such as the Council on Aging. Throughout the last 20 years, countless collaborations and training events have benefited our community as a result of the Human Services Co-Op.

Jeanne was also one of the founding mothers of Women of Achievement and she served two years as its president. She has served on the Mayor’s Community Relations Commission, the Free the Children think tank, and Goals for Memphis, just to name a few.

She continues to work to make her community a better place with her involvement with Aloysius Home, Inc., a residence for persons with AIDS. But she is probably best known as “The Hippy Lady.” An organization that began in 1969, the acronym stands for The Home Instruction Program for Pre-School Youngsters. The program began in Israel, but today HIPPY can be found in 11 countries and 30 states, helping mothers prepare their children for school.

Jeanne received the University of Memphis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Award for her work in improving human relations at the university. And she was also honored with the prestigious Hannah G. Solomon Award from the Memphis Section of the National Council of Jewish Women. This award is given to a person making an outstanding contribution to the council and the community.

In addition to her community involvement and being a grandmother to five grandchildren, Jeanne still finds time to interview students each year for entrance to Harvard/Radcliffe College. She is an alumna of Radcliffe and was elected alumni trustee from 1981–1985.

Jeanne received a 2001 Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice.

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Frances Dancy Hooks

Women of Achievement
1997

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Frances Dancy Hooks

The 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a turning point in the lives of many Memphians, and it certainly played a significant role in directing the course of Frances Hooks’ life. She and her husband, Benjamin, then a criminal court judge and the pastor of two Baptist congregations, were close confidants of King, and his death struck them both very hard. But through her pain and devastation, Frances was equally determined to continue his message in Memphis. The tragedy inspired her to better Memphis through her work as educator and as the wife of an active minister and civil rights leader in the African-American community.

Frances worked as a guidance counselor at Carver High School in South Memphis. By bringing together hundreds of volunteers in an effort called Memphis Volunteer Placement, Frances began a major effort to ensure that her students knew what career options were available to them, how to apply for financial aid for college, and how to complete a college application. Because of these efforts, many of her students went on to graduate from college, something many of them never before dreamed possible.

After acquiring her master’s degree in education, Frances continued her mission to improve educational and employment opportunities for minorities and the poor in the decades following the 1960s. She helped create a program that allowed pregnant teens to continue their education. Her dedication to improving the Riverview-Kansas neighborhood in Memphis continues through her involvement in the Riverview Kansas Day Care Center and other programs.

Frances’ most steadfast role has probably been at her husband’s side, supporting his career as a judge and minister, and later his appointment to the Federal Communications Commission and as national director of the NAACP.

Today, Frances and Ben have returned to Memphis, where she serves as a trustee of the Memphis College of Art, is a founding member of Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, and a member of the Memphis Race Relations Institute.

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Ann Bell

Women of Achievement
1996

STEADFASTNESS
for a woman with a lifetime of achievement:

Ann Bell

Ann Bell taught medical technologists, medical students, residents and physicians at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine where she worked for 55 years.

But Ann Bell is not a physician and she is not a Ph.D.

She was a professor of clinical laboratory science and began her career as the secretary to the Department of Clinical Pathology in 1941. And her students awarded her a “Golden Apple” – an award usually reserved for M.D.s only.

Ann is a nationally recognized leader in the study of hematology and oncology who has presented more than 130 national workshops and given papers all over the world.

Ann came to her UT job with a degree from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. The following year, she began five years of training in clinical pathology with Dr. L.W. Diggs, the late professor of medicine at UT and an expert on sickle cell and other blood diseases.

In 1954, with Diggs and Memphis artist Dorothy Sturm, Ann published The Morphology of Human Blood Cells, which is now in its fifth edition as the definitive textbook on hematology. She developed a national technologists’ training program and manual that is used throughout the world.

In 1969, Ann became licensed as a medical laboratory supervisor in hematology by the Tennessee Department of Public Health. She was the ninth person certified as a specialist in hematology by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, and in 1981 was certified as a clinical laboratory specialist in hematology by the National Certification Agency.

While continuing her multiple duties at UT, Ann attended Memphis State University from 1970 to 1974 to obtain required courses to enter graduate school, and she completed a Master of Science degree in cell biology in 1977.

She has published numerous original and indexed scientific articles and assisted with many others.

The Pathology Society in 1988 named her “Technologist of the Year,” the highest national award for individuals in the field.

“Ma Bell” officially retired five years ago – but not until March 1996, at the age 75, did she stop. She continued “part-time” as emeritus assistant professor of clinical laboratory sciences in the College of Allied Health Sciences.