Lillian Gordy Carter 1613575 211315782 2008-05-09T19:15:28Z Cwbcwb 7073015 /* Further reading */ {{Infobox Person | name = Lillian Gordy Carter | image = Lillian Carter.gif | image_size = | caption = Miss Lillian Carter, [[January 17]], [[1979]] | birth_date = [[August 15]], [[1898]] | birth_place = [[Image:Flag of the State of Georgia (1879).svg|25px]] [[Richland, Georgia]], [[U.S.]] | death_date = [[October 30]], [[1983]] (aged 85) | death_place = [[Image:Flag of the State of Georgia (1956-2001).svg|25px]] [[Americus, Georgia]], [[U.S.]] | occupation = [[Nurse]], [[Relative]] | spouse = James Earl Carter (m. Sept. 1923) | parents = James Jackson Gordy and Mary Ida Nicholson | children = [[Jimmy Carter|Jimmy]], [[Gloria Carter Spann|Gloria]], [[Ruth Carter Stapleton|Ruth]] and [[Billy Carter|Billy]] }} '''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 [[nurse|nursing]] in her home state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|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 program was cancelled. Instead, she worked for the [[US Post Office]] at Richland before moving to [[Plains, Georgia|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 continued her training and became very successful, earning the respect of both the black and white communities. “Miss Lillian”, as she was often known, would not allow blacks to enter her home through the back-door which was common practice at the time. Instead, she made them enter through the front and would often have them in her living room for casual conversation just as she would a white neighbor. These conversations would even continue after her husband Earl was to arrive home expecting the guests to depart. 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 20th century but Lillian decided that she would follow her father's example. She met businessman [[James Earl Carter, Sr.|James Earl Carter]] and married him immediately after her graduation. The couple had four children with [[U.S. President]] [[Jimmy Carter]] being the eldest child born in 1924. Her other three children were also somewhat famous, [[Gloria Carter Spann|Gloria]] (1926-1990), [[Ruth Carter Stapleton|Ruth]] (1929-1983) and [[Billy Carter|Billy]] (1937-1988). 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 back in her husband's businesses and for the members of Plains [[community]]. While a religious woman, Carter was not a regular attender of church services. After some sisters at the local church organized a [[Mission (Christian)|mission]] trip to [[Africa]], Carter became upset saying that there was plenty to be done in the US before traveling to another country. She coordinated her own [[Bible]] study at home on Sunday mornings while the rest of the family attended [[church]]. After the death of her husband from [[pancreatic cancer]], Lillian Carter left for [[Auburn University]] where she worked for seven and a half years. A year after completing her service at Auburn, Carter managed a [[nursing home]] in [[Blakely, Georgia|Blakely]]. Lillian later became a [[social activist]], working for [[desegregation]] and illicitly providing medical care to [[black]]s 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 {{convert|30|mi|km}} 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. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.former.staycon.lilliancarter ===Presidential mother=== [[Image:Jimmy and Lillian Carter.gif|right|thumb|With [[Jimmy Carter]], [[February 17]], [[1977]]]] 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, ''Miss Lillian and Friends'' and ''Away from Home: Letters to my Family'', both published in 1977. 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 [[Mass media|press]] for her [[Culture of the Southern United States|Southern]] charm and down-to-earth manner. For reporters and interrogators alike, she always had a warm country sass response for every question. She once remarked :''When I look at my four children sometimes I say to myself, Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin. In 1977 Miss Lillian appeared in a cameo, as herself, in the made-for-TV movie, [["Lucy Calls the President"]], starring [[Lucille Ball]]. When son [[Billy Carter]]'s beer business had its ribbon cutting ceremony, a friend questioned Miss Lillian on whether or not she would attend. She remarked: "''I attended Jimmy's inauguration didn't I?" On the day of Jimmy's inauguration, Miss Lillian was asked if she was proud of her son and she asked blandly, ''Which one?'' == Final years and death == Shortly after her eldest son left office in January 1981, she was diagnosed with [[breast cancer]]. Miss Lillian battled her illness in stride, but the cancer spread. After a period of [[remission]], Lillian Carter's younger daughter, [[Ruth Carter Stapleton|Ruth Stapleton]] 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]] of [[breast cancer|breast]], [[bone cancer|bone]] and [[pancreatic cancer|pancreatic]] cancers. Her three surviving children were by her side at her death. Miss Lillian was buried in a simple six minute ceremony at [[Lebanon Church Cemetery]], on [[November 1]], [[1983]], next to her husband who died 30 years before her. Two of her other children, [[Billy Carter]] and [[Gloria Carter Spann|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. ==See also== *[[Emily Dolvin]] ==Online references== * [http://www.ourgeorgiahistory.com/chronpop/225 Our Georgia History profile of Lillian Carter] * [http://www.sowega.net/~plainsed/research/profiles/LillianCarter.htm Jimmy Carter educational program profile of Lillian Carter] * [http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/1011932.html Peace Corps Online article on Carter's contribution to the Peace Corps] * [http://www.nursing.emory.edu/lccin/miss_lillian.shtml Article published in ''The American Nurse'' in 1976 on Lillian Carter Centre for International Nursing website] ==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 0-7432-1199-5 * Jimmy Carter, ''A Remarkable Mother'' Simon & Schuster, New York 2008 ISBN 1416562451 * 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. [[Category:American nurses|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Auburn University personnel|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Jimmy Carter|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:People from Georgia (U.S. state)|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Peace Corps volunteers|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Baptists from the United States|Carter, Lillian]] [[Category:Bone cancer deaths|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Breast cancer deaths|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Pancreatic cancer deaths|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:1898 births|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:1983 deaths|Carter, Lillian Gordy]] [[Category:Parents of Presidents of the United States|Carter, Lillian]]