Idella Jones Childs

Idella Jones Childs (June 21, 1903 – August 8, 1998) was an American educator, historian and civil rights activist. Childs worked as a teacher for 35 years in Perry County in Alabama. During the civil rights movement, her home was a meeting place for activists. She was the mother of Jean Childs Young, who later married Andrew Young who went on to become mayor of Atlanta. Childs worked as historian, helping to put two places in Alabama on the National Register of Historic Places. She also became the first black woman to sit on the city council in Marion. Childs was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2002. An award named after Childs is given out from the Alabama Historical Commission for the recognition of those who have contributed to the preservation of historic African-American places.

Biography Childs was born on June 21, 1903, in Perry County in Alabama, where she would live her entire life. She studied elementary education at Alabama State University. Childs taught in segregated schools for more than 35 years, teaching biology, algebra, history and social studies.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Childs' home became a meeting place for those involved in civil rights in Marion. In 1979, she was named an honorary member of the National Commission on the International Year of the Child by Jimmy Carter. She founded and became the first chair of the Perry County Arts and Humanities Council in 1982. Childs was the first black woman to serve on the council. She helped add the First Congregational Church Building and the Mary Elizabeth Phillips Thompson Auditorium of the Lincoln Normal School to the National Register of Historic Places. Hundreds attended a memorial service held in her honor at Lincoln Normal School. Childs was buried in the Marion Cemetery on Lafayette Street.

In 2002, she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. Her son-in-law, Andrew Young, was a keynote speaker. The award, known as the Idella Childs Distinguished Service Award, "recognizes people who have contributed to the preservation of African American historic places."