Through the years, a number of Alabamian women had made it their lives’ goal to do something that will ultimately be looked at as worthy contributions to the state. Some of the names that are in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame are Julia Tarrant Barron, Geneva Mercer, Annie Lola Price, and Martha Strudwick Young. Out of the inductees, we highlighted four names.

Amelia Gayle Gorgas (1826-1913)

Amelia Gayle Gorgas was born into one of the respected families in Alabama. In fact, her father, John Gayle was the sixth governor of the state. Due to her father’s political career, she had the privilege to rub elbows with big names such as John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and President James K. Polk. She married Captain Josiah Gorgas and bore six children. Their eldest, William Crawford Gorgas, was known around the globe for his solution of the yellow fever in Cuba and Panama Canal.

However, her father, her marriage, and her children are not the reason why Gorgas was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame. She had served in the University of Alabama with far more dedication than any person in her time. She worked as a hospital matron, a librarian, and even as a post-mistress until she was in her 80s. The University of Alabama’s library was named after her since she was the first librarian of the institution.

Julia Strudwick Tutwiler (1841-1916)

Julia Tutwiler was considered as the most educated woman of her time in the whole of Alabama. With the support of her father, she was able to study in prestigious universities in Germany and Paris, as well as in Washington and Lee University located in Virginia. As a lover of education, she became the president f Livingston State Normal School where she was named Mother of Co-Education in Alabama. She helped ten girls to gain admission to the University of Alabama once she was sure that the girls were indeed qualified.

She was best known as the Angel of the Prisons. Though she has many accomplishments, her unflagging dedication to prison reform led to the differentiation between cynical criminals and small offenders.

The third line was of Tutwiler’s words. However, her legacy is not limited to a few words in the Alabama state song. She took chances with her own hands to make the state a place where education and prison reform are not put in the backseat.

Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)

Helen Keller was blind and deaf since she was barely two years old. These did not stop her for being a famous author and a well-sought lecturer who inspired countless of people to become the best that they can be.

She sure loved the idea of knowledge considering the number of degrees she acquired from esteemed universities such as Radcliff College, Harvard University, University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, University of Glasgow in Scotland, Free University of Berlin, and University of Delhi.

Keller talked numerous times in front of the blind, not just in the country but all throughout the world. She was very passionate on her activities on the Council on National and International relations of the American Foundation for the blind, Inc.

Although she has many books to her name, her autobiography entitled The Story of My Life was the one which made the world see her for who she is—a woman living in the dark and yet shone like a beacon for others.

Her works and her very life remains an inspiration to many and made her deserving to be one of the first to be inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.

Tallulah Bankhead (1903-1968)

Tallulah Bankhead has been a part of one of the state’s well-regarded families. With a grandfather as a US Senator, a father who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and an aunt who served as a Director of the Alabama State Archives, it was easy to imagine Tallulah to make a name of her own in the world of politics.

She, indeed, made a name of her own but in a field different from her relatives. She became one of the big names in the show business industry. Her works on stage had been critically acclaimed. She had two awards for her topmost performances, the first being The Critic’s Award for The Skin of Our Teeth in 1942 and the second was the New York Screen Critic’s Award for Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat on the following year.