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Since Sufferage: A Symposium on American Women’s Politics Since 1920

Name: Since Sufferage: A Symposium on American Women’s Politics Since 1920
Start: 2022-10-21T09:30:00-05:00
End: 2022-10-21T17:00:00-05:00
Location: Virtual

October 21, 2022 @ 9:30 am - 5:00 pm

The public is invited to “Since Suffrage: A Symposium on American Women’s Politics since 1920.”

Virtual Event Information

The symposium will be streamed via the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities at Pebble Hill Facebook page.

Event Schedule

9:30 AM – 11:00 AM
Session One: In the Wake of Suffrage: Women’s Politics in the 1920s

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Session Two: Women’s Politics in the Long Midcentury, 1930s-1980s

2:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Session Three: Women’s Politics Today

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Keynote: The Paradox of Gender Equality

Details

Date: October 21, 2022
Time:
9:30 am - 5:00 pm

Venue

Virtual

Merika Coleman

Legislative Appointment

Senator Merika Coleman was elected to the Alabama Senate in November of 2022. Serving her first term, Senator Coleman was elected by her colleagues as the Vice-Chair of the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus. Before serving in the Senate, Senator Coleman served 20 years in the Alabama House of Representatives. She was a member of the leadership of the 105-member body and served as the Assistant Minority Leader, the first person ever to serve in this position. A history maker elected first at 28 years old, to date, Senator Coleman is the youngest woman ever elected to the Alabama Legislature.

Known as a legislator who speaks truth to power, Senator Coleman currently serves on seven Senate Standing Committees and is the only female member of the Banking and Insurance Committee and one of only four women who serve in the entire 35-member Alabama Senate. In addition to Banking, Senator Coleman serves on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Transportation and Energy, Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development, and two Government Affairs Committees.

In addition to Senator Coleman’s two degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Master of Public Administration, she completed her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Birmingham School of Law.

Senator Coleman is actively involved with numerous organizations, beginning with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., where she helps develop programming for the Social Action Committee. Senator Coleman is also a member of the House of Electa Chapter #895, O.E.S., P.H.A., and the Bessemer Business and Professional Women’s Organization, serving as the Chair of the Legislative Committee. Though on hiatus, Senator Coleman is also a member of Links Inc.

Professionally, Senator Coleman started her career as a community organizer and economic justice strategist and presently is a part-time Municipal Judge in the City of Birmingham. She is also the owner of the Law Offices of Merika Coleman, LLC, a law firm that focuses on domestic relations, family law, as well as estate planning and personal injury. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Judge U.W. Clemon Center for Economic and Social Justice at Miles College.

Nationally, Senator Coleman is a sought-after legislator by many women and political groups for her ideas on a range of issues, including eradicating human trafficking, the role of Black women in politics, healthcare reform, reproductive rights for women, pay equity, economic development, defense spending, and common-sense gun regulations.

Senator Coleman has been recognized by numerous organizations for her commitment to the poor and improving the quality of life for all Alabamians. Most recently, she was inducted into the U.A.B. M.P .A. Program’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to public service.

Although she has accomplished many things politically and professionally, her greatest accomplishment is being a mother. She is the mother of Elexia, who was a member of the 2019 graduating class of Vanderbilt University. Elexia also graduated in 2024 with a dual Master of Public Health and Master of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her son Xaviar, a former member of the UAB Blazer football team, graduated in May 2025 from Miles College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. He is currently pursuing a Master’s of Artificial Intelligence from Meharry School of Applied Computational Sciences and will pursue a career in finance. Senator Coleman is the proud daughter of a disabled veteran, retired USAF MSGT Arthur Williams and Paulette Williams.

Tami Reist

District 4

During her more than three decade long career in the tourism and travel industry, Tami has lived by the theme expressed by the famous American heroine Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” This theme is carried forth in all of her speaking engagements across the country and has had proven results in her professional accomplishments.

Tami is the President/CEO of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association (AMLA). Her duties include planning, implementing, directing, and evaluating all promotional programs as well as overall development of the tourism and travel industry within the 16 northernmost counties of the State of Alabama. The region currently generates more than $3.7 billion in travel expenditures on an annual basis.

Tami’s responsibilities also include strengthening and expanding the membership base of AMLA, a not-for-profit organization that is supported by 500-plus members consisting of Chambers of Commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, attractions, campgrounds, festivals, communities, counties, golf courses, restaurants, tour operators, accommodations, vendors, financial institutions, and individuals. Counties included within the AMLA region are Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, and Winston.

Tami is a board member for a number of tourism and travel-related and civic organizations including: Governor Appointee to the Scenic Byways Committee, Main Street Alabama, Southeast Tourism Society Legislative Council, Alabama Travel Council, Alabama Council of Association Executives, Alabama Association of Destination Marketing Organizations, and numerous other local and state travel related groups. Tami is also an instructor at the Southeast Tourism Society’s Marketing College, and has been a contributing presenter to the tourism and travel field of study at Mississippi State University. Among her many recognitions are the ATHENA Leadership Award from the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, the Alabama Travel Council Partnership Award, the Southeast Tourism Society Dorothy Hardman Spirit Award, inductee into the Morgan County Leadership Hall of Fame and This is Alabama, Birmingham magazine’s Women Who Shape the State honoree, a “Women of Impact” award recipient from Yellowhammer News / Yellowhammer Multimedia, and a 2021 graduate of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a leadership and economic development program sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Tami was named as one of the 12 Accessibility Change- Making Champions in 2025 by the TravelAbility national organization.

During her career, Tami has served as the President/CEO of the Decatur-Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau; as Project Manager and General Manager of Courtyard by Marriott – Decatur, Ala.; Regional Manager for Hampton Inn and Country Inn & Suites by Carlson – Decatur and Florence, Ala.; and as General Manager and Project Coordinator of the Amberley Suite Hotel – Decatur, Ala.

Tami’s interest include interior design, flying with her husband, traveling, and spending time with her grandchildren.

Anita Archie

Emeritus Board Member

Anita Archie has more than 25 years of public service spanning municipal government, state government, and higher education. She formerly served as interim President of Trenholm State Community College, a comprehensive two-year community college located in Montgomery, Alabama, before being hired as Manager of, Workforce Development Program, Alabama Power.

Archie began her career as a prosecutor in the Office of the Alabama Attorney General in 1992. She quickly became Division Chief, the Environmental Division representing the interests of ratepayers before the Alabama Public Service Commission. She later joined the Legislative Reference Service as a legislative attorney specializing in writing economic and community development incentive legislation.

Archie served as the first black senior attorney for the Alabama Development Office (currently the Alabama Department of Commerce). She served as an associate or lead counsel on behalf of the State of Alabama in many economic development projects in the 2000s, including the successful recruitment of Hyundai Motor Manufacturing of Alabama (HMMA). Later, Governor Don Siegelman and Governor Bob Riley appointed her Supplier Development Coordinator on behalf of the state for Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects of HMMA.

Archie briefly left state government in 2005 to serve as Executive Director of the Montgomery Riverfront Development Foundation and the Montgomery Public Housing Authority. Archie later joined in 2007 the Alabama Community College System and served as the Director of Government Relations, where she successfully advocated for Alabama’s community colleges. Later, she served as Senior Vice President, Intergovernmental Affairs, Advocacy and Communications, and Legal Counsel for the Business Council of Alabama. From 2013 to 2017, Archie served as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Montgomery and was responsible for oversight of community development, personnel, and city council relations. Archie left the city in July 2017 to become the Deputy Director and Executive Counsel for the Alabama Department of Economic Affairs before later being appointed interim president.

Archie served on numerous boards and commissions, including a member of the Alabama Environmental Management Commission (chair for two years); the Alabama Women’s Commission (chair, two years), the Southern Rail Commission, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee member of the Business Council of Alabama (BCA), treasurer, BCA. Currently, she serves as an emeritus member and advisor, Alabama Women’s Commission, Board of Directors, Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Alabama Constitution Recompilation Committee (appointed by the Speaker of the House, Mac McCutcheon).

She is married to Eric Archie, and they have two children Erica and Amari.

Julia Harwell Segars

Emeritus Board Member

Author, artist and retired corporate executive Julia Harwell Segars is a 1984 magna-cum-laude graduate of the University of Alabama, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a minor in graphic design.

Julia’s early career included two years as a news reporter before joining Alabama Power as a writer in 1986. She later served as manager of Employee Communication and went on to leadership positions in other departments before her election by the company’s board of directors in 2002 as vice president and regional chief information officer. She spent the last 11 years of her corporate career as Eastern Division vice president, over customer service operations in 12 counties in East Alabama.

Julia has served as chairman of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce; vice-chairman of the Calhoun County Economic Development Council; and co-founding chairman of Core 4, a regional organization created to support development of the I-20 corridor in East Alabama.

A 2016 graduate of Leadership Alabama, Julia is past president of UA’s Capstone Communication Society and has served on the boards of the Jacksonville State University Foundation and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind Foundation. She is a member of Calhoun County’s Women’s Executive Network and Etowah County’s First Friday Forum for executive women.

She is a graduate of the International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellows program and Momentum, a statewide program for women leaders. She has served on the Alabama Women’s Commission and as a director of the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama. She received the Girl Scouts’ Frances E. Couch Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and the Boy Scouts of America Greater Alabama Council’s Heart of an Eagle Award in 2016 in recognition of her community service.

After 31 years in corporate life, Julia retired in July 2017 to return her focus to writing and other creative pursuits as owner of Segars Creative, LLC. She continues to serve as a director of Cahaba Safeguard Administrators, a subsidiary of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, and on the board of the Alabama Trails Foundation, a non-profit established to support the Alabama Trails Commission.

In 2020, she authored an Alabama Public Television documentary, “A Selfless Heart: The Susie Parker Stringfellow Story©,” which tells the remarkable story of one of Alabama’s earliest women of tremendous impact in our state. In 2017, she released the book Aunt Sister ©, a collection of her best humor columns carried in area newspapers under that pen name. One of the columns, printed in the Talladega Daily Home, received first place for humor in the Alabama Press Association’s 2017 Better Newspapers Contest.

A native of Hoover, Julia and her husband, Frank, now reside in Anniston. They have four children, four grandchildren and four dogs.

Rep. Barbara Drummond

Legislative Appointment

Rep. Barbara Drummond’s life is a Mobile story, a story of deep commitment and action. Her journey through journalism, city and county administration, and the Alabama State Legislature has given her a unique and powerful understanding of this city – its promise, its challenges, and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Born and raised here, Rep. Drummond’s connection to Mobile is personal and profound. She was among the first wave of Black students to integrate Murphy High School, an experience that shaped her lifelong dedication to fairness and the belief that every Mobilian deserves a fair shot. That passion took her to the University of South Alabama, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and English.

Rep. Drummond began her career as a journalist at the Mobile Press-Register, spending 21 years telling our city’s stories. She didn’t just cover the news; she connected with the people behind it. Her reporting on all levels of government gave her an insider’s view of how the system works, and her popular weekly column made complex issues understandable, earning her a reputation as a bridge-builder who could bring diverse voices together.

Rep. Drummond’s desire to do more than report on Mobile led her to public service. She spent eleven years as Public Affairs and Community Services Director for the Mobile County Commission, where she worked closely with county leaders on vital projects like securing better school funding. In this role, she actively fought for the resources our community needed, like securing better school funding.

From 2005 to 2013, Rep. Drummond served as Executive Director of Administrative Services and Community Affairs for the City of Mobile, working directly with the Mayor and City Council. In this crucial role determining the city’s direction and operational effectiveness, she managed a large staff and a multi-million dollar budget, spearheading initiatives that continue to make a difference today. She created Mobile 311, putting city hall at residents’ fingertips; implemented Mobile CitiSmart to measure government performance and ensure accountability; launched a citywide Litter Awareness Campaign to promote cleanliness and civic pride; established an alert system reaching over 94,000 households for public safety; and created the annual State of the City event to foster communication. She was a force for progress, getting things done and making Mobile work better for its people.

Rep. Drummond has also been a passionate advocate for Mobile on a larger stage. She helped develop Mobile’s New Year’s Eve celebration, including the now-famous Moon Pie Drop. She also served on the board of directors for BayFest, helping to revitalize the music festival and boost Mobile’s cultural scene. And she played a key role in recruiting Airbus and other major businesses to Mobile, understanding that good jobs are the foundation of a strong community.

In 2014, Rep. Drummond was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, where she continues to serve as a powerful voice for Mobile in the state capital. Her work in the legislature has focused on strengthening families and neighborhoods, fighting for the resources Mobile needs, and ensuring our voices are heard in Montgomery. She has consistently championed practical solutions for Mobile, sponsoring and passing key legislation to give the city enhanced tools to address blight, overgrown lots, and abandoned debris (HB99, 2015; HB430, 2017; HB104, 2025). Recognizing the importance of economic opportunity, she successfully passed legislation supporting minority and women-owned businesses by requiring better state data collection (HB172, 2021) and championed bills removing barriers for professions like natural hair styling (HB262, 2017). Committed to public health and safety, she was the driving force behind the recently signed law (HB8, 2025) to combat the youth vaping epidemic by strengthening regulations and funding enforcement, building on her earlier work raising the legal age for tobacco products.

Currently, Rep. Drummond serves as Chair of the Mobile Area Water and Sewer Board, the largest water utility in Mobile County. In this role, she oversees a vital service that impacts every home and business in our city, demonstrating her ability to manage complex challenges and ensure the well-being of Mobile’s residents. She understands that reliable infrastructure is essential for our city’s future.

Rep. Barbara Drummond’s career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to Mobile. She’s a proven leader with a heart for this city and a track record of bringing people together to get things done.

Cathy McGowin

District 1

Cathy Waller McGowin grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and attended Huffman High School. In 1984 she moved to Mobile, Alabama with her husband, Jeff, who was starting his career in orthopaedic surgery. Mrs. McGowin graduated from the Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama in 1980. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing. She has worked in many different areas of medical care in both Jefferson and Mobile Counties. Her experience includes Emergency, Critical Care, Post-Surgical, and Cardiac Rehabilitation. Mrs. McGowin has been actively involved in service and charitable organizations in Mobile including the Board of Directors for the Junior League of Mobile. She also has served on the board of the Medical Alliance for Mobile County. She has volunteered with Camp Rap-A-Hope, an organization that provides year-round programming as well as a summer camp for children between the ages of 7 and 17 who have or have ever had cancer. Mrs. McGowin has volunteered with Partners in Education tutoring 4th grade students in mathematics, and she served as the president of the PTA at her children’s school. As an active community volunteer, she has chaired fundraisers for numerous non-profits in Mobile County. Together with her husband, Jeff, she served as Club Leader for the University of Virginia Club of Mobile where she instituted an annual service project for local club members to aid local charities. She was appointed by Governor Ivey to serve as a Commissioner for the Alabama Women’s Commission in 2017 and served as Chair for the Commission from October 2020 until October 2022. Mrs. McGowin has worked on projects with the Alabama Women’s Commission including the 211KNOW text messaging program, a study with the University of Alabama to determine the effects of parental cell phone usage and the development of preschool children, and the Lunch and Learn program for agency leaders in the state. Mrs. McGowin was also appointed to the Board of the Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention by Governor Ivey in January 2023. Mrs. McGowin is a member of St. Ignatius Catholic Church where she has taught religious education classes for elementary age children. Cathy is married to Dr. Jeff McGowin, a Mobile native. They have two wonderful sons and daughters-in-law, and four precious granddaughters.

Since Sufferage: A Symposium on American Women’s Politics Since 1920

Virtual Event Information

Event Schedule

Details

Venue

Merika Coleman

Legislative Appointment

Jay Lamar

District 3

Tam Glover

Junior Board Member

Jennifer Bolen Rogers

Junior Board Member

Penny Townson

Junior Board Member

Haley Rutland

Junior Board Member

Alicia Johnson

Junior Board Member

Addison McNutt

Junior Board Member

Kimber Khouri

Executive Director

We are working on Sherry's bio. Please check back later for more information.

We are working on Vivian's bio. Please check back later for more information.

Cynthia Almond

District 1

Melanie Hill

District 2

Julie Friedman

District 1

Tami Reist

District 4

Emily Marsh

Junior Board Member

Dr. Karen Benn Marshall

District 5

Katherine Robertson

District 6

Anita Archie

Emeritus Board Member

Dr. Lori Owens

Emeritus Board Member

Julia Harwell Segars

Emeritus Board Member

Kate Scarbrough

Junior Board Member

Penny Townson

Junior Board Member

Stefanie Reeves

Junior Board Member

Dr. Delores Johnson Price

Emeritus Board Member

Laura Leigh Latta

Junior Board Member

Emily Herring

Junior Board Member

Samantha Bagwell

Junior Board Member

Genesis Player

Junior Board Member

Jesalyn McCurry

Junior Board Member

Mary Jacque Carroll

Junior Board Member

Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier

Senate

Sen. Priscilla Dunn

District Legislative Appointment

Rep. Barbara Drummond

Legislative Appointment

Rep. Becky Nordgren

Legislative Appointment

Rep. Terri Collins

District Legislative Appointment

Tracy Plummer

District 7

Carol Sue Nelson

District 6

Jeneene Suttle