Lillian Gordy Carter
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Bessie Lillian Gordy Carter (August 15, 1898 - October 30, 1983), was the mother of former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter. She is also known for contribution to nursing in Georgia and as a Peace Corps volunteer in India as well as writing two books during the Carter presidency.
Nurse and Mother
Bessie Lillian Gordy was born to James Jackson Gordy (1863-1948) and Mary Ida Nicholson (1871-1951) in Richland, Georgia in 1898. She volunteered to serve as a nurse with the US Army in 1917 but the army closed down the program. 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 Sanatorium before completing her nursing degree at the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta in 1923. Lillian's family initially disapproved of her choice of a career in nursing, but she knew that this was what she wanted to do and continued with her plans and pursued her career with such tenacity that she earned the respect of both the black and white conmmunities.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, Georgia and was always cordial and often dined with the black workers. This was very unusual in the early 1900s and 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 Jimmy Carter being the eldest child born in 1924. While she theoretically retired from nursing in 1925, in reality she worked as what was then called a nurse practitioner both for the hundreds of employees black in her husband's businesses and for the members of Plains community.
After the death of her husband from pancreatic cancer, Lillian Carter left for Auburn University where she worked for seven and half years. A year after completing her service at Auburn, Carter managed a nursing home in Blakeley.
Lillian later became a social activist, working for desegregation and illicitly providing medical care to blacks in Plains, Georgia.
Peace Corps Volunteer
In 1966, at the age of 68, Carter applied for the Peace Corps. After completing a psychiatric evaluation, she received three months of training and was sent to India where she worked at the Godrej Colony 30 miles from Mumbai where she worked for 21 months including with lepers. Emory University established the Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing in honor of the work she did in India. The Atlanta Regional Office of the Peace Corps has named an award in her honor for volunteers over 50 who make the biggest contribution.
Presidential Mother
When Jimmy Carter decided to run for President, his mother was one of the first people he told. While he was initially regarded as a dark horse candidate for the Democratic Party nomination, his election as President meant that his family was well known. Lillian Carter was well known as "Miss Lillian" and she published two books during his Presidency namely "Miss Lillian and Friends" in 1977 and "Away from Home: Letters to my Family" published in 1977 as well. The latter book was a collection of letters to her family sent when she was in India for the Peace Corps.
"Miz Lillian" was a favorite of the press for her Southern charm and she was down-to-earth. For reporters and interrogators alike, she always had a warm country sass response for every question. Lillian Carter says her strongest influence on her liberal views was her father. James Jackson Gordy, "Jim Jack" operated a Post Office in Lillian's hometown of Richland, Georgia and was always cordial and often dined with the black workers. This was very unusual in the early 1900's and Lillian decided that she would follow her father's example.
Shortly after her eldest son left office in January 1981, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Miss Lillian battled her illness, but the cancer spread. After a period of remission, Lillian Carter's younger daughter, Ruth was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April, 1983 and died on September 26, 1983 at 54. The grief was too much for Lillian to bear and she herself succumbed only six weeks later on October 30, 1983 at age 85 in Americus, Georgia. Miss Lillian was buried in a simple six minute ceremony at Lebanon Church Cemetery, next to her husband who had died 30 years prior on November 1, 1953.
Three of her four children, Ruth Stapleton, Billy Carter and Gloria Spann also died from pancreatic cancer, only the former President has not inherited the disease. He has, understandably, become a fund-raiser and booster for research into a cure for the disease.
In 2001, a major nursing centre was dedicated in her honor in Plains by Jimmy Carter in recognition of many years of service to the community as a nurse.
Online references
Further reading
- Lillian Carter with Gloria Carter Spann, Away From Home: Letters to my Family Simon & Schuster New York 1977 ISBN 0-671-22683-5
- Lillian Carter as told to Beth Tartan and Rudy Hayes Miss Lillian and Friends: the Plains, Georgia Family Philosophy and Recipe Book A&W Publishers 1977 ISBN 0-89104-074-9
- Jimmy Carter, An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood Simon & Schuster, London ISBN 0-7432-11995
- Jimmy Carter, Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems Times Books, New York 1995 ISBN 0-8129-2434-7 was dedicated in his mother's honor and contains a poem about her.
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