Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMPS requests that visitors wear masks while inside. Oakleigh is open for tours Tuesday-Saturday from 10 am - 4 pm.

The Alabama Women's Hall of Fame with

Dr. Valerie Pope Burnes 

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Thursday March 23, 2023

6PM

Historic Oakleigh House

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Created in 1970 at Judson College to honor the women of Alabama, the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame, located at the University of West Alabama in Livingston, houses the plaques of almost 100 women who have been inducted into the AWHF.  Those honored include writers, artists, educators, lawyers, businesswomen, nurses, missionaries, volunteers, social workers, and social movers and shakers.  The Board of the AWHF chooses up to two women for induction each year.  The induction takes place the first Thursday in March.  Women who were born, lived in, and/or contributed to the betterment of Alabama, and have been deceased for two years, are eligible for nomination. 

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About Dr. Burnes 

Valerie Pope Burnes is a Professor of History and executive secretary of the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame at the University of West Alabama. She holds an M.A. in archival studies and a Ph.D. in history from Auburn University. She defended her dissertation, "From Pre-Civil War to Post-Civil Rights: The Political Lives of African-Americans from Slavery to the 21st Century in Perry County, Alabama," under the direction of Dr. David Carter. Valerie is the author of numerous articles in Alabama Heritage and is co-author of the book Visions of the Black Belt: A Cultural Survey of the Heart of Alabama. She has also written three articles on the Suffrage Movement for the Encyclopedia of Alabama.  Valerie appeared on C-SPAN and served as president of the Alabama Historical Association from 2018-19. She was a Bicentennial Scholar from 2017-19 and led a statewide committee to identify sites in Alabama associated with the women’s suffrage movement in commemoration of the passage of the 19th amendment in 2020.  
Burnes is president of the Sumter County Historical and Preservation Society, the Epes Barbecue Club, and the Friends of the Ruby Pickens Tartt Library, and serves as Regent of the Bigbee Valley DAR chapter. 

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