Before retiring in Oconee, Jeannette Rankin was elected as the first woman in Congress
The Oconee Enterprise Lifestyles
MARCH 9, 2023
BY CAITLIN FARMER
Before retiring in Oconee, Jeannette Rankin was elected as the first woman in Congress
Jeannette Rankin historical reenactment kicks off Women’s History Month at UGA’s Russell Library
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Jeannette Rankin historical reenactment kicks off Women’s History Month at UGA’s Russell Library
The Jeannette Rankin Foundation, Athens Chautauqua Society and Russell Library present Legacy Lecture celebrating first U.S. Congresswoman.
February 1, 2022, Athens, Ga. ― An historical reenactment of the life the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress will kick off Women’s History Month in Athens on Wednesday, March 1 at the University of Georgia’s Special Collections Libraries building. Scholar and historic interpreter Mary Jane Bradbury will explore the life of Jeannette Rankin around 1920, when Rankin was finishing her inaugural term in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture is sponsored by the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, Athens Chautauqua Society and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at UGA.
Rankin (1880-1973) was born in Montana and later became a long-time resident of Georgia. She was the first woman elected to any federal office and brought forward legislation that ultimately became the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. A bequest from Rankin founded the Jeannette Rankin Foundation in 1976, which awards Scholar Grants to women students 35 and older across the country (and 25 and older in Georgia and Montana) who are pursuing their first associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
“The Athens Chautauqua Society is committed to elevating stories of history’s most famous characters,” said Madeline Van Dyck, a board member of the Athens Chautauqua Society. “We are proud to partner with the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and the Russell Library to bring Mary Jane Bradbury all the way from Montana for this year’s Legacy Lecture to share the fascinating life of Jeannette Rankin, whose efforts were instrumental in giving women across our country the right to vote.”
Bradbury draws on over 25 years as an educator, actor and author to bring history to life. She is a Chautauqua speaker for Humanities Montana as well as the Colorado Humanities and has been an artist in residence for the Montana Historical Society and the Charles M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Mont.
“Jeannette Rankin is one of the most consequential figures in American history,” said Sheryl Vogt, director of the Russell Library. “We are thrilled to kick off Women’s History Month in celebration of Rankin and give the public the opportunity to learn and be inspired by her life and legacy.”
The Jeannette Rankin Legacy Lecture will be held Wednesday, March 1 from 4 – 5:15 p.m. in Room 271 at the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries building, University of Georgia 300 South Hull Street, Athens, Ga. A reception will follow from 5:15 – 6:30 p.m. in Room 285. Tickets are free but registration is requested at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jeannette-rankin-legacy-lecture-tickets-520670468387. Parking is free for off-campus visitors as well. Guests should bring their license plate number to the front desk staff at the library’s main entrance to validate parking.
About the Jeannette Rankin Foundation
The Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides unrestricted Scholar Grants to students who identify as women or nonbinary, are 35 and older (25 and older in Georgia and Montana) and demonstrate financial need. Inspired by its namesake, the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress, the Jeannette Rankin Foundation transforms futures through education. rankinfoundation.org
About the Athens Chautauqua Society
The Athens Chautauqua Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to bring the education and entertainment of historical storytelling to Athens, Georgia. Our organization is committed to elevating the stories of some of history’s most famous characters. Yet, we believe that some of the most impactful lessons come from world-changers you may not have heard of before. athenschq.org
About the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies was established in 1974 by the Richard B. Russell Foundation, Inc., Georgia General Assembly, and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The library’s original mission was to collect and preserve materials documenting the life and career of Richard B. Russell, Jr., United States Senator from Georgia from 1933 to 1971. The Library’s holdings have since expanded to include approximately 500 manuscript collections and more than 1,000 oral history interviews documenting modern (1900-present) politics and public policy in Georgia and an array of issues related to the American political system. The Russell Library enjoys a national reputation as one of the largest and foremost repositories for modern congressional papers. In 2014, the Russell Library received a Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities. l https://www.libs.uga.edu/russell-library
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Ayesha Harrison-Jex
Ayesha Harrison-Jex Endowed Scholar Grant
Ayesha Harrison-Jex came into the world fighting. She was born prematurely and stayed in the hospital for three and a half months. The same way she came into the world she left – fighting for her life. She was born on November 8th, 1978 and she passed away in October 2019, just before her 41st birthday. Ayesha was a happy child, always smiling, sweet, caring, and sensitive. When cancer (adenoid cystic carcinoma) first attacked her body, she was attending community college; however, after extensive treatment she went on to complete her studies, graduating with a BA in Business Administration at Florida A & M. She followed up her BA with an MBA from the University of Phoenix and worked for many years in the hospitality industry. She became cancer free and for 17 years cancer stayed away. Cancer found its way back into her body in her late 30s. She began to fight a battle again that she ultimately lost and passed away three years after the final diagnosis.
Ayesha had a true fighting spirit and believed that she could better herself by working hard to achieve the goals she set for herself. Ayesha believed that when you are determined to do something – hard work pays off and all dreams do come true. In the words of her mother, Dr. Lucille O’Neal, “We want this grant to honor the hard-working Rankin Scholars, true to the spirit of Ayesha.” Dr. O’Neal shared that she was so happy and blessed to be Ayesha’s mother. She always calls Ayesha her special baby – “she fought to live.” On behalf of Ayesha, the O’Neal Family shares this grant to help Rankin Scholars achieve their dreams.
OPINION: College degree gives middle-aged women an uplift
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Nedra Rhone
Oct 12, 2022
For years, cultural norms kept Khadijah Abdur-Rahman in a physically abusive relationship. It wasn’t until she saw her son crying after she had an altercation with her then husband that Abdur-Rahman made the decision to leave.
“Something just hit inside of me. Something said you are either going to show him what is acceptable to you or you are going to show him what is unacceptable,” she said.
As a survivor of domestic abuse, Abdur-Rahman began connecting with organizations that helped her rebuild her life with a home, health insurance and when she was ready, an education.
In 2015, at age 49, Abdur-Rahman earned a scholarship from the Jeanette Rankin Foundation. The unrestricted grant helped her obtain a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Georgia State University.
Now a Fulton County Commissioner, Abdur-Rahman said the scholarship from the Rankin Foundation played a pivotal role in changing the trajectory of her life.
“When you are a domestic abuse survivor, you are not yourself. The lady that went through all of that, I don’t know her now. She is a stranger to me,” Abdur-Rahman said.
Joining the circle of Jeannette Rankin scholars, Abdur-Rahman found a sisterhood with other women, bonded by devastating life events and the desire to build a better future for themselves and their families.
The Athens-based Jeannette Rankin Foundation has granted $4 million to 1,700 women since its founding in 1976, said CEO Karen Sterk. Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress. Upon her death in 1973, she designated part of her Georgia estate to help mature unemployed women workers. Five of her friends established the foundation using $16,000 from Rankin’s estate.
Each year, the foundation awards 60 scholarships to women nationwide. Its success rate is impressive: 87% of scholars graduate or continue their pursuit of a degree.
Rankin scholars are overwhelmingly single mothers, survivors of domestic violence or the first in their family to attend college. Half of the scholars are white, 20% are Black and 30% are Latina, Asian, multiracial or Middle Eastern. All of the women are 35 or older and in of need financial assistance.
Over the years, the organization has adapted to women’s changing needs. Moving the application process online helped to diversify the roster of volunteers for the scholarship selection committee. And in recent years, Sterk said the organization has hired scholar alumni to work in programming.
“Having someone who has walked in their shoes is so important. You know that someone understands what you are going through,” said Sterk. Program director LaTrena Artist has done everything from negotiating car repair discounts on behalf of scholars to hosting virtual office hours where current scholars can log on to ask questions.
Leesha DeVine, 44, said the extra support from the Rankin Foundation provides the kind of community she needed when she was a teenage mom. “I was working all day, nonstop, and I knew there had to be something better,” said DeVine of those early years. “The only thing that was missing was that I didn’t go to school.”
With the foundation scholarship, DeVine has been attending Georgia State University. She expects to earn a bachelor’s degree in social work next spring. DeVine hopes to work in community outreach and to build the support networks for future generations that she wishes she had.
That same desire to help future generations also has compelled supporters to get involved with the Rankin Foundation.
When Michael Purser lost his mother and sister in a tragic car accident in 2005, he knew he wanted to honor them through education. His mother had returned to school during middle age and became an intensive care nurse. Twenty-five years later, his sister had also returned to school at middle age when her life hit a rough patch. She later became an educator.
Purser and his nephew, Caleb Hannan, decided to endow a scholarship for the Jeannette Rankin Foundation as a memorial to the two women, but Purser’s involvement would go well beyond making a financial donation. He served on the board for six years and has met many of the scholars when they come to town, hosting them in his home and driving them to Athens for the annual ceremony. The stories that the women share about their lives is what keeps him involved, he said.
When his friend Julie Ralston lost her mother in 2020, Purser introduced Ralston to the foundation as a donor.
Ralston’s mother was 36 years old and a widow when she returned to school to earn an education degree, attending classes four hours from home and working as a dorm mom, while Ralston’s grandparents stayed with Ralston and her brother.
“My mother succeeded despite many headwinds,” said Ralston, who has endowed a scholarship in her mother’s honor. Her mother had funded her education with a life insurance policy, Ralston said, but did not have the same kind of emotional support that the Jeannette Rankin Foundation provides to women in the program.
For more than four decades, the foundation has helped women succeed despite the odds against them. And for the scholars and the donors who support them, the Jeannette Rankin Foundation has proven to be an investment worth making.
Jeannette Rankin Foundation to Hold Annual STAR Party in Athens
WUGA
By Alexia Ridley
October 27, 2022
Athens-based national nonprofit, the Jeannette Rankin Foundation is holding its annual Star Party Thursday, November 3rd. The event will honor Dr. Johnnetta Cole, an anthropologist, author, former president of two historically Black colleges for women.
The event raises funds to support the nonprofits mission of providing education grants to women, typically 35 and older, who are pursuing their first degrees.
The foundation has awarded more than $4 million dollars since it was founded in 1976. The party is from 7:30 to 9 pm at Hotel Indigo and can be attended in-person, for the first time since the pandemic began or virtually.
Last year’s event raised $110,000. Karen Sterk is CEO of the foundation. She discussed the upcoming event with WUGA.
Visit the foundation’s website for more information.
Athens News Matters: Jeannette Rankin STAR Party
WUGA
By Alexia Ridley, Kate Regan
October 28, 2022
Jeannette Rankin, the US’s first congresswoman, was a political star. And at next month’s annual STAR Party, the foundation established in Rankin’s name honors the stellar achievements of another accomplished woman, Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole. We’ll talk with a representative of the foundation to learn more about Cole’s remarkable life, and how Rankin’s legacy continues.
Link: https://www.wuga.org/local-news/2022-10-28/athens-news-matters-jeannette-rankin-star-party
Jeannette Rankin Foundation exceeds goal at fundraiser for women scholars
The Missoulian
By Skylar Rispens
Nov 6, 2022
The Jeannette Rankin Foundation met its fundraising goal at the annual STAR Party to continue providing opportunities for women and nonbinary students to pursue their first degree in college education through unique grants.
The Georgia-based nonprofit raised $131,000 at the party on Thursday night, which was hosted in three satellite locations in Missoula, as well as Atlanta and Athens, Georgia. As of Friday afternoon about $4,000 more had been contributed from donors across the country.
“I was so grateful to have the support to keep going to school,” said Amanda Miller, a former scholar from Missoula supported by the Jeannette Rankin Foundation. “Going to school isn’t just about showing up in class and doing the work, especially if you are a woman and you’re over the age of 35 and have kids and have a life. There’s so many other balls that you have to keep in the air.”
The money raised at the event directly supports Rankin Foundation scholars and provides them with unrestricted educational grants rather than traditional scholarships that can only be used for tuition and fees. Students who identify as women or nonbinary, are age 35 or older and demonstrate financial need are eligible to receive grants.
Scholars live on a median income of about $20,000 a year generally for a household of three.
“Our scholars feel trusted and empowered to use the funds in whatever way they choose to reach graduation and ease college debt,” said Michele Ozumba, president of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation.
Mary Jane Bradbury performs a historical re-enactment of Jeannette Rankin’s role in the suffrage movement and her political work to empower women.TOM BAUER, Missoulian
Since the organization was founded in 1976, more than $4 million in grants has been awarded to students in all 50 states. In the past year, 85% of scholars either graduated or continued their studies despite ongoing complications from the pandemic.
The foundation gauges applications based on “grit,” said Ozumba. For the scholars, the support from the foundation validates their perseverance and provides them new-found support to accomplish their dreams.
“Grit will get you so far, but sometimes when the chips are down, it’s really important to feel like you have people in your corner,” Miller said.
Miller started college at the University of Montana shortly after she graduated from high school in the 1990s in pursuit of a business degree. As a student, she launched her own business, which quickly overtook her studies and she stopped going to school.
Over the next 15 years she ran a martial arts school and taught self-defense and empowerment seminars.
“Fast forward to 2015 and I got this little whisper that things were going to fall apart,” Miller said. “So I went back to school.”
During her second crack at a college degree she switched tracks and pursued a bachelor’s degree in women’s, gender and sexuality studies. But she had to drop out two semesters short of graduation.
Eventually she connected with the Jeanette Rankin Foundation, which helped her cross the finish line.
“When you’re chosen from this whole pool (of applicants) you feel like, OK, they see something in me and I am worth supporting,” Miller said. “It’s not just me with some pipe dream.”
Miller went on to obtain a master’s degree in business at the university in just one year and is pursuing a doctorate.
“Now I am trying to pay it forward,” Miller said. “I spend my time coaching and consulting with women and other marginalized folks who are trying to turn their passions and ideas into a business. I help them actualize their ideas.”
In addition to financial support, the foundation also provides its scholars case management and coaching to help them navigate challenges while in school.
At the fundraising event, Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole was recognized as a Shining Star Award Winner. Cole is a renowned anthropologist, author and is the only woman to serve as president for both historically Black colleges for women in the United States. She also has served as the director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and was the first woman appointed to the board of Coca-Cola Enterprises.
“When you educate a man, you educate a man, when you educate a woman, you educate a nation,” Cole said.
Cole pledged to donate $1,000 to the foundation during the STAR Party.
At the Missoula party, Mary Jane Bradbury performed a historical reenactment of Jeannette Rankin’s role in the suffrage movement and her political work to empower women. Rankin was born in Missoula in 1880 and was the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She spent much of her life living in Georgia.
When Rankin died in 1973, she directed part of her estate to help “mature unemployed women workers.” Those close to Rankin launched a foundation in her name three years after her death with $16,000.
“We are inspired every day by our namesake, Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, the first woman who broke the first glass ceiling,” said Monica Kaufman Pearson. “Her courageous spirit to create catalytic change inspires our organization, our scholars and every person who learns her story.”
Vera & Anne Purser
Vera & Anne Purser Scholar Grant Award
Given by Michael Purser
Vera and Anne were mother and daughter that shared a special bond. Anne was the only girl and youngest sibling to her three brothers, Howard David, and Michael. Vera and Anne both had the drive to complete school, and both did so. Vera returned to school and received her Nursing Certification while in her forties, and Anne received her Master’s degree while in her forties, following in her mother Vera’s footsteps.
When her mothering days were over, Vera dove into Nursing to save lives. Anne entered the world of education and guided young minds to grow and learn in Pre-K. It was education that drove their passion. Vera helped the sick regain their health, and Anne helped establish direction and meaning.
Vera & Anne’s lives were taken unexpectedly while on their way to aid a sick relative. However, Michael (Vera’s son) and Caleb Hannan (Anne’s son) wanted their memory to live on by turning tragedy into triumph for others. Today, the Vera & Anne Purser Award is established to honor Michael’s mother, Vera, and sister Anne through the dreams of others; Preserving the legacy my mother and sister created allows other women with drive and a vision the opportunity to live the lives they want and deserve.- Michael Purser
Waters-Brock
Waters-Brock Endowed Scholar Grant
Given by J. Maria Waters
This endowment honors the inspirational legacy of Rev Hosie & Mary Louise (Brock) Waters.
the late Mary Ruth Brock, the late Rev Champ & Ida Mae Waters, and the late Odice & Ruby
Brock.
Rev Hosie and Louise Waters served over 30 years in the educational field. Rev. Hosie Waters, a
Fort Valley State College, University of Oklahoma, and Troy State University graduate, served
as an educator (mathematics, sciences), asst. superintendent, and school superintendent. He was
the first African American School Superintendent in Macon County, Georgia. He also was one
of the first two African Americans to graduate from the master’s natural science program at the
University of Oklahoma in the 1960s. He followed his father’s footsteps in the ministry and
served as pastor of four churches in Middle Georgia. Before he entered the ministry, he also
sang in a gospel group which included one of his older brothers. His wife Louise Waters, a
Spelman College, Fort Valley State University, and Troy State University graduate also served
as an educator (history, economics, geography, civics). They have participated in professional
and/or community organizations. Though they were a few classes short of their PhDs, they
opted not to move their family, especially his mother whom they assisted, to northern Georgia,
which then was the only available location to obtain their PhDs in the 1980s. Their sacrifices for
their family members and teamwork still resonate today.
Mary Ruth Brock, an older sister of Mary Louise Waters, also served over 30 years as an
educator (language arts). She taught in a small Georgia town (Marshallville) but remains in the
hearts of her former students and her relatives. She was a graduate of Jarvis Christian College
and Fort Valley State University. She and her sister Mary Louise (Brock) Waters were close, which is not
coincidental since Mary Ruth Brock named her sister ‘Mary’ so that they could have the same
(first) name.
Their respective parents (Rev Champ & Ida Mae Waters and Odice & Ruby Brock) were
instrumental in their successful journey by stressing family, knowledge, hard work, dedication,
integrity, and faith.
J. Maria Waters, the daughter of Rev. Hosie and Mary Louise Waters, endowed this scholarship
to honor and support the dedication of women who are working to better themselves, their
families, and their communities through education, which the Waters-Brock families feel
strongly about.
Patel, Broaddus, Halloran, Cofer Family
Virginia (Jinx) and Gordhan Patel are establishing this scholarship fund in order to honor these three women who were amazing,
loving, and remarkably strong individuals who stressed the importance of family. This fund honors the memory of Bhuliben
Patel – the mother of Gordhan Lalubhai Patel, the memory of Ferne Virginia Halloran Broaddus – the mother of Virginia (Jinx)
Broaddus Patel, and the memory of Ferne Randolph Broaddus Cofer – the sister of Virginia (Jinx) Broaddus Patel.
Bhuliben Patel
Bhuliben Patel was born in Dhaman, a rural village in the state of Gujarat, India. Her marriage to Lalubhai Patel was arranged, and she moved to his village, Kuched. Early in their marriage, Lalubhai and his brother traveled to Mozambique – a Portuguese colony in East Africa where they purchased a banana plantation near the capital city, Lourenco Marques (named Maputo in 1975). Bhuliben soon followed with their first son, Gopal. Their other two children, Gordhan and Laxmi were born in Mozambique in 1936 and 1944, respectively. During those years, Bhuliben and Lalubhai created a family compound of nephews and their families – totaling about twenty-five family members coming from India. Bhuliben directed the activities and organization of this household. In December 1961, when India by military action repossessed Goa, a tiny Portuguese colony in the Indian sub-continent, the Portuguese authorities in Mozambique rounded up all residents with Indian citizenship, confiscated all of their properties and put them in a detention camp for six months. This included Bhuliben, Lalubhai and their family members who were Indian citizens. This excluded their son, Gordhan, who was a college student in the United States, their daughter, Laxmi, and their son Gopal’s wife and their four grandchildren who were Portuguese citizens by virtue of their birth in Mozambique. After six months of detention, all Indian citizens were required to leave Mozambique. However, Bhuliben and Lalubhai were exempted from this deportation order and allowed to remain with Laxmi and Gopal’s wife and their grandchildren. Gopal and the others returned to their ancestral homes in India. Lalubhai died in 1971 and Gopal was allowed to return to Mozambique after being separated from his wife and children for nine years. In 1975, after the communist take-over of Mozambique, Bhuliben and Gopal with his family immigrated to Athens, Georgia and in 1977 moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. Bhuliben spent her remaining years surrounded by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She possessed a marvelous sense of humor and was always active. When she died at the age of a hundred and one plus in 2007, she had lived on three different continents, adapted wonderfully to each, and was so loved and adored by her family.
Ferne Cofer
Ferne Virginia Halloran Broaddus was born in Hinton, West Virginia in 1901.
Hinton was a thriving town in the early 1900s because the trains stopped there
for refueling. Ferne was one of seven children who were all musical, playing
two to three instruments, and always hosting neighborhood parties on their
front porch. As a young woman, Ferne would often play the piano in the
theater to accompany the showing of a silent movie. She met her husband,
Randolph Gwinn Broaddus, MD, when he, as a young surgeon, accepted a
position at the Hinton Hospital. They were married in 1926 and had their first
daughter, Ferne Randolph, in 1927. Their second daughter, Virginia Gwinn
(Jinx) was born in 1937. In 1928, Randolph became superintendent of the
Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley, West Virginia. The family moved up
the mountain twenty-five miles to Beckley in 1942. Her husband Randolph
also established for a few years a nursing school in Beckley because he needed
trained nurses to staff the Raleigh General. Ferne was an exceedingly active
member of St. Stephens Episcopal Church as well as the Raleigh County
Medical Auxiliary, Girl Scouting, the Beckley Woman’s Club, the Monday
Music Club, the Azalea Garden Club , and two historical societies. As a
gracious hostess, Ferne was always having events for these many organizations,
and especially hosting the reunion parties of the Raleigh General Hospital
Nurses Alumnae Association in their home. She was a devoted and loving
wife, mother, and grandmother and stressed the importance of family.
Ferne Broaddus
Ferne Randolph Broaddus Cofer was born in Hinton, West Virginia. She
attended private schools, St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock, Virginia
and the Ward Belmont School in Nashville, Tennessee, for her secondary
education. She received a Bachelor’s degree from the College of William and
Mary and a degree in Medical Technology from the University of Virginia. In
1950, she married Joseph P. Cofer, a graduate of the Naval Academy and at
that time, a Lieutenant in the Navy. The first ten years of their marriage, they
had three children and moved eleven times living in Monterey, CA; Norfolk,
VA; Charleston, SC; Boston, MS; London, England. When her husband
retired from the Navy as Captain, they settled in Chattanooga, TN, where their
fourth child was born. Ferne worked as a medical technologist and a real estate
broker. She was a founding member of St. Thaddaeus Episcopal Church and
was the first woman to be appointed to the vestry. Ferne was a superior cook
and a gracious hostess. She and Joe had many sets of friend so Ferne was always
hosting gatherings. It was always important for her large family to come to her
home for holiday celebrations. She was a loving and wonderful daughter, wife,
mother, sister, and grandmother and was adored by all who knew her.
Arvonia Elizabeth Vaughn Sprauge
Arvonia Elizabeth Vaughn Sprauge Endowed Scholar Grant
Given by Betsy Bach and Max and Krista Sprague
Arvonia Elizabeth Vaughn Sprague (1888-1983) was born in Vaughn, Montana, and lived in Montana her entire life. She graduated from Mills College in California, and returned to live in Great Falls with her husband, Hugh Max Sprague. She was the mother of four children and spent time volunteering for various civic organizations. She was an active member of the PEO Sisterhood, and with her father, Robert Vaughn, was a long-time friend and supporter of cowboy artist Charlie Russell and his wife, Nancy.
Rankin Foundation Founder Reita Rivers
Reita Rivers Endowed Scholar Grant
Reita was Jeannette Rankin’s personal assistant at the time of Jeannette’s death. She knew about the bequest Jeannette had left to help “mature, unemployed women workers.” Her relationship with Jeannette Rankin was the impetus for the gathering of five founders of the Foundation. Reita continued her career at UGA serving as Assistant to the Director of the Sea Grant Program overseeing the grants management and many other administrative functions. Reita passed away in January of 2020.
Reita Rivers was born on September 13, 1930 in Jenkins, Kentucky. She was the only child of Lola Dotson Rivers and Earl Rivers. Most of her childhood was spent in Wise, Virginia. She attended Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia and received her BS degree from Radford State Teachers College.
Reita taught Spanish before switching to a career as a representative for Silver Burdette textbook company in Atlanta. There she met a colleague, Pat Haynes, his wife Corky and family. A close friendship quickly formed and lasted a lifetime. Pat left Silver Burdette and moved his family to Athens in 1964. Reita moved to Athens the next year. She quickly was hired as a graduate assistant and started taking graduate courses herself. While pursuing job offerings at the student employment center, she saw an ad: “Personal Assistant for Miss Jeannette Rankin,” it was a name familiar to Reita; her grandfather had talked about “that woman from Montana has more guts than most men!” Reita knew Jeannette’s historic journey as America’s first elected Congresswoman. She was hired and very soon became a close friend of Jeannette.
Miss Rankin passed away May 18, 1973, days short of her 93rd birthday. Reita executed her estate. Miss Rankin stipulated money left in her estate was to provide educational opportunities for older women. Reita along with four of her closest friends who were also committed to equal rights sought to expand opportunities for women. They were JRF co-founders, Sue Bailey, Heather Kleiner, Margaret Holt, and Gail Dendy. Together they developed the idea of creating The Jeannette Rankin Foundation. The JRF was founded in 1976.
Later, Reita worked as Communications Director for the Sea Grant Program and Marine Sciences Department at the University of Georgia for over 20 years. She created a successful project of merging science with art. Reita held exhibitions of the art throughout the state and sparked the public’s interest in and appreciation of coastal resources.
Reita passed away in January of 2020 and will be remembered as an advocate for social justice, a dedicated feminist, and animal lover. The Jeannette Rankin Foundation endows this scholar grant in memory of her.