Honoring women of peerless valor, altruism, and intellect
May their names be forever inscribed in our hearts, just as their legacies endure for all time.
Emma Morel Adler
(1930-2020)
Emma Morel Adler has served on the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education, the Georgia Humanities Council, the Lucas Theatre for the Arts board, and the Savannah Council on World Affairs. In these roles, she has worked to secure Savannah's future through public education, cultural stewardship, and historic preservation, of which she is an ardent and outspoken national advocate. In Savannah, the Massie Heritage Center shines as Adler's masterpiece.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Mother Mathilda Beasley
(1832-1903)
Mother Mathilda Beasley, Georgia's first African-American nun, once ran a secret, illegal school to educate black children during the mid-1800s. Mother Beasley went on to donate her considerable estate to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in order to establish the St. Francis Home for Colored Orphans, which she operated for the remainder of her life. She also founded Georgia's first group of African-American nuns, the Third Order of St. Francis.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth
(ca. 1700-ca. 1765)
Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth was a pivotal interpreter, negotiator, and cultural liaison between the English colonists and the local indigenous Americans. Notably, General James Oglethorpe and Chief Tomochichi were only able to communicate and reach accord through Bosomworth's multilingual prowess and adroit diplomacy.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Miriam Center
(b. 1926)
Miriam Center grew up in Savannah, graduating from Savannah High School in 1944. As she raised her three sons, she started her own real estate business, serving an instrumental role in the construction of the Savannah Civic Center. In the 1980s, she moved to Malibu, California, earned a degree in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica, and established the celebrated women's spiritual group Daughters of Destiny. After moving to Atlanta in the late 1990s, she returned to Savannah and began writing, publishing, and editing. She authored a coming-of-age tale of life as a Southern woman and memorialized her friendship with Academy Award winner Johnny Mercer in the musical Johnny Mercer & Me, which debuted in Savannah. Center continues to enjoy travel, writing, and contributing to Savannah's culture.
2018 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Linda J. Evans
A Detroit-area high school science teacher for 26 years, Linda J. Evans was instrumental in establishing the first Medical and Natural Sciences Career Academy for high school students in the Southfield Public Schools system. Evans also served as the curator and exhibition coordinator for the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art. In 2006, Evans and her husband, Walter, gifted more than 60 of these major works to the SCAD Museum of Art, forming the foundation of the museum’s Evans Center for African American Studies. Evans serves on the boards of various local community, civic, and charitable organizations. Her volunteerism has been recognized with the inaugural Frank Callen Service to Youth Award from the Boys & Girls Clubs and the 2014 Spirit of Advocating Award from United Way of the Coastal Empire.
2022 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Sarah Mills Hodge
(1875-1962)
Born in Savannah, Sarah Mills Hodge was a staunch advocate for the less fortunate in her community. As the beneficiary of a considerable trust from her husband, engineer Henry Wilson Hodge, she purchased and renovated a building on West Bay Street where she established the Hodge Free Kindergarten for Black children of working mothers. Hodge also established the Mills Memorial Home for elderly Black men, made generous contributions to the rebuilding of Charity Hospital, and financed the Frank Callen Boys Club building and programs, among other philanthropy. Her legacy endures in the Hodge Foundation, which has contributed more than $2 million to more than 50 community organizations. An elementary school in Savannah is also named in her honor.
2022 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Edna Jackson
(b. 1944)
Edna Jackson's lifetime of civic engagement began at age 9, when she joined Savannah's NAACP Youth Council. During the civil rights movement, she was among the students who joined the sit-ins at downtown businesses, including the Azalea Room, now the site of the SCAD Jen Library. A graduate of Savannah State University, Jackson joined the staff of her alma mater, gathering a broad range of experience in counseling, admissions, alumni affairs, and recruiting. Her political career began as a three-term alderman at large on the Savannah City Council, followed by two terms as mayor pro tem. In 2011, Jackson became the 65th mayor of Savannah and the first black woman to hold that position. She has continued to earn awards and accolades, including the Savannah Civil Rights Museum Unsung Heroes Award, the NAACP Freedom Award, and the Equal Opportunity Association Martin Luther King Service Award.
2018 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Alice Andrews Jepson
(b. 1942)
Alice Andrews Jepson has a passion for local education, health care, art, and culture. The Bethesda Academy, the Jepson Center for the Arts, the Jepson House Education Center, Memorial University Medical Center, the Savannah Country Day School, Savannah Philharmonic, the SCAD Museum of Art, and others stand as testaments to her positive influence and generous investment in the community.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Clermont Huger Lee
(1914-2006)
One of the first women to lead a landscape architecture practice in Georgia, Clermont Huger Lee was the foremost expert in re-creating historic landscapes in mid-20th-century Savannah. Her work was meticulously researched, with a particular focus on formal English and American gardens of the antebellum period. Lee was also responsible for working to found the Georgia State Board of Landscape Architects, a licensing board for landscape architects across the state. Her work can be experienced in the gardens at the Isaiah Davenport House, Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, and Owens-Thomas House, all in Savannah.
2020 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Nancy N. Lewis
(1927-2019)
Nancy N. Lewis was a devoted advocate for public education, art, and health. Local secondary learning academies and bastions of higher education, including SCAD, have benefited from her support. Since the opening of the Nancy N. and J. C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion at St. Joseph's Candler, Savannah has become known for its elite patient care.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Juliette Gordon Low
(1860-1927)
Juliette Gordon Low formed the American Girl Guides patrol in Savannah with 18 registrants in 1912. This group, now known as the Girl Scouts, includes approximately 3 million members in 92 countries and nearly 60 million alumnae. Today, Low remains an inspiration to generations of Girl Scouts, embodying the courage, confidence, and character to which the troops aspire.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Abigail Minis
(1701-1794)
Abigail Minis, known as the "mother of Savannah's Jewish community," numbered among the first 40 Jewish settlers to arrive in Savannah, where she became a founding member of the third-oldest Jewish congregation in the U.S. She was also a staunch supporter of the American Revolution, supplying the defenders of Savannah with money, food, ammunition, and uniforms.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Mary Lane Morrison
(1907-1994)
Mary Lane Morrison, a native of Savannah, created an invaluable scholarly archive for the city through the study and documentation of buildings, parks, and squares. Morrison collected, transcribed, and cataloged newspaper clippings and Savannah City Council minutes, photographed buildings, and preserved the names of architects, owners, and construction dates. She also served on the Georgia Historical Society Board of Curators. Through her authorship of John S. Norris: Architect in Savannah and editorial contributions to Historic Savannah: A Survey of Significant Buildings in the Historic and Victorian Districts of Savannah, Georgia, Morrison helped establish a historical record and legacy that continues to benefit her community.
2018 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Flannery O'Connor
(1925-1964)
Born in Savannah, Flannery O'Connor is one of the most respected writers of the 20th century. Her short stories, novels, correspondence, and essays earned her numerous accolades, including three O. Henry Awards, the National Book Award, grants from the Ford Foundation and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Rinehart-Iowa Fiction Award, a Kenyon Review Fellowship, and inclusion in the Best American Short Stories anthology.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, retired
(b. 1955)
Former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Leah Ward Sears was the first woman and youngest person to sit on the state's highest court, as well as the first African American to serve as chief justice on any supreme court in the U.S. She is currently a partner at the law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell in Atlanta, Georgia.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Joyce Roché
(b. 1947)
Born in Iberville, La., Joyce Roché served as the president and chief operating officer of Carson, Inc. in Savannah from 1996 to 1998. Roché has also served as executive vice president of global marketing for Avon, becoming the first African American woman to hold the position, as well as the chief executive officer and president of Girls, Inc. from 2000 to 2010. Roché sits on the boards of the Savannah Economic Development Authority and The World Trade Center. She also chairs the board of the Chatham County Hospital Authority. In 2013, Roché authored The Empress Has No Clothes: Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success. She received the Women of Power Legacy Award from Black Enterprise Magazine in 2006 and 2007.
2022 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Suzanne Shank
(b. 1952)
A lauded veteran of the investment banking industry, Suzanne Shank is the chairwoman, CEO, and founding owner of Siebert Williams Shank & Co. Shank, a Savannah native, has been celebrated as a leader in finance by American Banker magazine and was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business by Black Enterprise magazine. She has also been recognized on Essence magazine's Power List and was named a National Entrepreneur of the Year by the Madam C. J. Walker Center. Shank is deeply committed to causes promoting mentorship of inner-city youth and has formed and supported various mentorship programs across the country. An active industry and civic leader, she serves on boards for the Citizens Budget Commission, Women in Public Finance, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Detroit Regional Chamber, among others.
2020 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Gale Singer
Gale Singer is the founder and president of Circa Lighting. As the quintessential reseller of Visual Comfort & Co. family of brands, Visual Comfort, Tech Lighting, Generation Lighting, and Monte Carlo Fans, Circa Lighting is the premier resource for top tier lighting products. Since 1998 when Singer opened the first 375-square-foot showroom in Savannah Ga., her business acumen has afforded the company broad renown among the design community and sustained growth. Each season product collaborations with design elites such as Chapman and Myers, Thomas O’Brien, Alexa Hampton, Suzanne Kasler, and Kelly Wearstler earn praise in the pages Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, Luxe, Veranda, and more. By the end of 2022, Circa Lighting will have expanded its robust showroom and e-commerce business to a total of 30 locations across the U.S., an international hub in London, and digital platforms that effectively serve U.S., U.K., and European markets. Alongside Andy Singer, her brother and founder of decorative lighting manufacturer Visual Comfort, Singer was the 2020 recipient of the New York School of Interior Design’s coveted Larry Kravet Design Industry Innovation Award. As Circa Lighting broadens its reach, Singer remains committed to beautiful design and, above all, a brilliant customer experience.
2022 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Fredericka Washington
(1903-1994)
Fredericka Washington was born and spent her girlhood in Savannah. She began her career as a dancer before acting for stage and screen, becoming one of the Harlem Renaissance's most widely recognized performers. Washington's best-known role was in the 1934 film Imitation of Life, nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. Through her film career and a desire to expand opportunities for black actors and actresses, she helped found the Negro Actors Guild in 1937. Washington was also a writer for theater, served as entertainment editor for the newspaper People's Voice, and worked as a casting consultant for a Broadway revival of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and the film Carmen Jones, starring Dorothy Dandridge. In 1975, Washington was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
2018 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Sema Wilkes
(1907-2002)
Growing up on a Georgia farm, Sema Wilkes began cooking for her family and their workers at age 7. In 1943, she moved to Savannah with her husband and children and took over a boarding house, transforming it into Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room. Catering to locals and travelers, and offering hearty meals served family style, Mrs. Wilkes' rapidly became a thriving fixture of downtown Savannah. Its reputation, built through word of mouth, made Wilkes an ambassador for the city and state. Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room has welcomed notable figures, including former President Barack Obama, Robert Duvall, Kate Smith, and Gregory Peck. Wilkes won many accolades, among them the Al Burruss Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Tourism Council.
2018 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Frances Wong
(1940-2010)
Frances Wong was a lifelong educator. After a celebrated career in the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System — where she was beloved by thousands of schoolchildren and their parents — she joined higher education and spent 10 years in administrative leadership roles at SCAD, including vice president for academic services and vice president for student affairs.
2016 Savannah Women of Vision honoree
Be inspired
See commissioned portraits celebrating Savannah Women of Vision and learn more about this elite cadre of trailblazers who profoundly transformed the city's cultural, political, and social landscape.