May Erwin Talmadge

May Marie Erwin Talmadge (February 26, 1885 – August 2, 1973) was an American civic leader who served as the 19th president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was the first president general of the national society from the U.S. state of Georgia. Her administration led the Daughters of the American Revolution through World War II, donating money and resources to the American Red Cross. She attended the 1945 United Nations Conference of International Organization and was appointed by U.S. president Harry S. Truman to serve on the National Famine Emergency Council.

Early life Talmadge was born May Marie Erwin on February 26, 1885 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to Harry Johnson Erwin and Mary A. Mills Erwin.

In the 1950s, she worked with the Georgia State Board of Education, during a time when Georgia schools were being integrated. Some of her letters from this period, pertaining to racial policies, integration, and book banning, are housed in the University of Georgia Special Collections Library. She served as chapter regent of the Elijah Clarke Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution from 1916 to 1919. serving from 1944 to 1947. In March 1945, Talmadge said of the cancellation of congress, "It will be a disappointment—but not a hardship—for no sacrifice is too great for the DAR Society to make, if it means added comfort and convenience to our service men traveling to and from their line of duty." Through the DAR War Fund, her administration directed the purchase of X-ray units for hospital ships and field ambulances and the donation of over 600 two-way radio sets for bedridden patients.

Personal life Talmadge was a member of the Presbyterian Church.

She was married to Julius Young Talmadge, a businessman. They had one son, Captain Harry Erwin Talmadge, a doctor and military officer. The family lived in a Colonial Revival mansion in Athens, Georgia.

Talmadge died in Athens in 1973.