Notable Alabama Women

Smashing through the Glass Ceiling

Women in Alabama have made an outsized contribution to both the state and the nation. Before Rosa Parks, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin challenged segregation laws on a bus in Montgomery. Georgia Gilmore used her cooking skills to empower and support protestors during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Singer "Big Mama" Thornton became the bridge between rock 'n roll and the blues. After being crowned Miss America 1951, the "Basque Spitfire," Yolande Betbeze, took a defiant stand for women forcing changes in the pageant industry. Author Joe Cuhaj profiles the unique journeys, challenges, and triumphs of these and many more women who help shape the cultural and social landscape of not only Alabama but the world as well.