Hattie Hooker Wilkins

Hattie Wilkins (née Hooker) (July 28, 1875 – 1949) was an American Progressive Era suffragist and women's rights activist who is best known for being the first woman elected to a seat in the Alabama Legislature. She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1997.

Family and early life Hattie Hooker, the daughter of Frederick Josiah Hooker and Alexina (Fellows) Hooker, was born on July 28, 1875, at Selma, Alabama, in Dallas County. She was educated at Boss Calloway's School in Selma, and later attended Normal College in Nashville, Tennessee, to prepare to teach school. When her family was asked about her most noteworthy accomplishments, they answered with a statement that "her most significant accomplishment was that of wife and mother, and maker of a beautiful home that is a center of refinement and those lovely characteristics that go to make the perfect home life."

Suffragist and women's rights activist Wilkins was one of the first suffragists in the state of Alabama. Wilkins was a founding member of the Alabama Equal Suffrage Association and the Alabama League of Women Voters. Wilkins joined the legislature as a democrat with the belief that in a nation of both men and women, the government should cater to the needs of men and women alike. Her main agenda was aimed towards reforming education, healthcare and the special needs of her constituents while being head of the committee on public health. Her efforts as a legislator gained the respect of her colleagues within the legislation. She decided not to run for a second term but upon leaving she was gifted, by her colleagues, with an inscribed cup that said: "To Mrs. Wilkins, the First Woman Member of the Alabama House of Representatives, a Token of Esteem From Her Fellow Members, 1923."

Death and legacy Wilkins died in 1949.

In 1977, Wilkins was selected as one of twenty-five Alabama women who were highlighted in the historical exhibit Faces and Voices of Alabama Women. This is a permanent collection at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She was once again memorialized in 1997, when she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. This was hosted by Judson College in Marion, Perry County.