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Mary Judson to be honored March 20
Mary Camilla Judson, lady principal of the Greenville Baptist Female College from 1878 to 1912 and the woman for whom Judson Hall is named, will be among the first eight women inducted into the Greenville County Women's Hall of Fame March 20.
A native of Connecticut, Judson worked tirelessly but discretely for women's rights and equal educational opportunity for nearly 50 years.
As a teacher and administrator for the Female College, which later became Greenville Woman's College, Judson encouraged her students to think independently, speak publicly and excel academically. Her actions, radical at the time, sometimes put her at odds with many Baptist preachers.
But Judson, loved and admired by her students, persevered, and the "discrete feminist" continued to quietly advocate women's rights. Judson was responsible for introducing calisthenics at the school, allowing students to loosen their corsets and remove their stays and bustles.
She taught elocution (training in speaking) and founded the first women's club in Greenville, the college's Judson Literary Society. Working with community leaders and local historians, the League of Women Voters has established the Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the Greenville Women's Club on Bennett Street in downtown Greenville. All of the honorees are deceased. Eight Furman drama students, dressed in appropriate costumes, will portray each honoree and explain her life, struggles and accomplishments.
In addition to Judson, inductees include Lila Mae Brock, Hattie Logan Duckett, Laura Smith Ebaugh, Carolyn Frederick, Mary Putnam Gridely, "Miss Jim" Perry and Laodicea "Dicey" Langston Springfield.