More than a century after her heroic acts, Liberty County legend Susie Baker King Taylor was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement hall of fame on Wednesday. The 27th annual event was held at Wesleyan College in Macon to honor the 2018 inductees.
Taylor was nominated for the award by Hermina Glass-Hill, executive director of the Susie King Taylor Women’s Institute and Ecology Center, after learning of the program from Liberty County Chairman Donald Lovette.
“Susie King Taylor’s life just exemplifies what is possible in all of us because her story is so undertold given that she contributed so much of her life to freedom, education and humanity,” Glass-Hill said. “To study Susie King Taylor’s life and the sense of justice that she was fighting for and the sense of evil that she was resisting by fleeing slavery, her story is so undertold and the world needs to know about her.”
During the event, people from all over the state gathered to recognize three honorees.
“They are three heroes who lived in dark times in our state but gave it color,” said Jamil Zainaldin, President Emeritus of Georgia Humanities during his keynote address. “Our modern life is filled with madness and busyness but these ladies were serious about real issues that changed lives. We want everybody in Georgia to tell these stories of the inductees all year long.”
For the first time in the organization’s history, three African-American women were honored. Ludie Clay Andrews of Milledgeville for her commitment to interracial social change in public health, Mamie George Williams of Savannah for her contribution to political change and Susie King Taylor for her calling to health, education and politics.
After escaping slavery, Taylor opened three schools for African Americans, championed the Army Nurse Pension Act of 1892 and self-published a memoir in 1902.
“I’m reminded of an old negro spiritual where the words are ‘ain’t no stranger now’ so when it comes to Susie King Taylor in Liberty County, Georgia, and all of America, she ain’t no stranger now,” Lovette said.
The Georgia Women of Achievement was created by former first lady Rosalynn Carter to honor the inspirational and courageous female trailblazers of Georgia. For more information on Georgia Women of Achievement and to nominate a woman in Georgia’s history who has made outstanding contributions and serves as a present-day inspiration, visit www.georgiawomen.org.
For more information on Susie King Taylor, upcoming projects or to make a donation, visit www.susiekingtaylorinstitute.org or call 912-884-3605.