Edith Jacqueline Ingram
As we end black history month. We dwell on a pioneer. FVSU Alumna, ’63, became the first African American woman judge in Georgia in 1969 when she was elected to serve on the Hancock County Court of the Ordinary. She moved to the county’s probate court in 1973. Prior to her tenure on the bench, she taught public school in Griffin and Sparta, GA. At her father's encouragement, she ran for office during a period of increased racial tension in the state and subsequently served as a judge for 36 years. Then-Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter appointed her to the State Democratic Committee, and in 1983, Governor Joe Frank Harris included her on his staff. She also held the position of president of the Georgia Coalition of Black Women and was a member of the National College of Probate Judges, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the board of the Ebony International Learning Academy and Preparatory School. Her achievements are highlighted in the book Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events.
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