1976 Democratic candidate for President of the United States Governor Jimmy Carter hugs his mother Lillian Carter after winning the Iowa Primary. Bessie Lillian Gordy Carter (August 15, 1898 – October 30, 1983) was the mother of former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. She was also known for her contribution to nursing in her home state of Georgia and as a Peace Corps volunteer in India as well as writing two books during the Carter presidency.
Carter was born Bessie Lillian Gordy to James Jackson Gordy (1863–1948) and Mary Ida Nicholson (1871–1951) in Richland, Georgia in 1898. She was the niece of Berry Gordy, Sr., the paternal half-brother of James Jackson Gordy and the father of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr.,[citation needed]. She volunteered to serve as a nurse with the Army in 1917 but the program was cancelled. Instead, she worked for the US Post Office at Richland before moving to Plains in 1920 where she was accepted as a trainee at the Wise Sanitarium before completing her nursing degree at the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia in 1923. Lillian's family initially disapproved of her choice of a career in nursing, but she continued her training and became very successful, earning the respect of both the black and white communities. "Miss Lillian," as she was often known, allowed black people to enter her home through the front door, rather than through the back door as was the social norm, and would often have them in her living room for casual conversation just as she would a white neighbor. These conversations would even continue after her husband Earl was to arrive home expecting the guests to depart. Lillian Carter said that the strongest influence on her liberal views was her father. James Jackson Gordy, "Jim Jack" operated a Post Office in Lillian's hometown of Richland and was always cordial and often dined with the black workers. This was very unusual in the early 20th century but Lillian decided that she would follow her father's example. She met businessman James Earl Carter and married him immediately after her graduation. The couple had four children with President Jimmy Carter being the eldest child born in 1924. Her other three children were also somewhat famous, Gloria (1926–1990), Ruth (1929–1983) and Billy (1937–1988). While she theoretically retired from nursing in 1925, she worked as what was then called a nurse practitioner.
Size: 3000px × 2962px
Location: Iowa
Photo credit: © Ken Hawkins / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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