Bessie Lillian "Miss Lillian" Gordy Carter (1898 - 1983) - Find A Grave Memorial Bessie Lillian "Miss Lillian" Gordy Carter Sumter County Georgia, USA Author, Social Activist, Mother of US President Jimmy Carter. Fondly known as "Miss Lillian," she is remembered for her contribution to nursing in her home state of Georgia and as a Peace Corps volunteer in India, as well as her Southern charm and down-to-earth manner. Her father was the postmaster in Richland, Georgia who greatly influenced her liberal views. After the US entered World War I in April 1917, she volunteered to serve as a nurse with the US Army but the program was cancelled. She then took a job with the US Post Office at Richland before moving to Plains, Georgia in 1920 where she was accepted as a trainee at the Wise Sanitarium. In 1923 she completed her nursing degree at the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia and married businessman James Earl Carter. She "retired" from nursing in 1925 and worked as a nurse practitioner in the Plains community.

Following the death of her husband in 1953, she left for Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama where she worked for over seven years as a dormitory housemother. A year after completing her service at Auburn, she returned to Georgia and managed a nursing home in Blakely. In 1966, at the age of 68, she applied and was accepted for the Peace Corps and after she received three months of training, she was sent to India where she worked at the Godrej Colony near Mumbai for almost two years, during which she aided patients afflicted by leprosy. After her son was elected as the 39th President of the US, she published two books during his Presidency in 1977, "Miss Lillian and Friends" and "Away from Home: Letters to my Family." In 1977 she appeared in a cameo, as herself, in the made-for-television movie, "Lucy Calls the President", starring actress Lucille Ball. In 1981 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she died of the disease two years later at the age of 85.

Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia established the Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing in honor of the work she did in India and The Atlanta Regional Office of the Peace Corps has named an award in her honor for volunteers over 50 who make the biggest contribution. In 2001, a major nursing center was dedicated in her honor in Plains, Georgia by Jimmy Carter in recognition of first years of service to the community as a nurse. (bio by: William Bjornstad) LILLIAN CARTER IS DEAT AT 85 - MOTHER OF THE 39TH PRESIDENT - NYTimes.com LILLIAN CARTER IS DEAT AT 85 LILLIAN CARTER IS DEAT AT 85; MOTHER OF THE 39TH PRESIDENT By CHARLOTTE EVANS Published: October 31, 1983 Lillian Carter, the 85-year-old mother of former President Jimmy Carter, died of cancer yesterday in Americus- Sumter County Hospital in Americus, Ga., where she had been hospitalized since Tuesday. The 39th President was at his mother's side when she died shortly after 5 P.M., as were Mrs.

Carter's two other living children, Billy Carter and Gloria Spann, and Jimmy Carter's wife, Rosalynn. Mrs. Carter's other daughter, Ruth Carter Stapleton, died of cancer Sept. 26. Her physician, Dr. Paul Broun, said Mrs. Carter died of cancer that had spread to the bone. On June 29, 1981, Mrs. Carter underwent a modified radical mastectomy after a malignant tumor was discovered in her left breast. Mrs. Carter, known to her neighbors as Miss Lillian, was a nurse, a Peace Corps volunteer, an unofficial ambassador and a supporter of civil rights and women's causes. She also said what was on her mind. In 1977 she became the first woman to receive the Covenant of Peace Prize of the Synagogue Council of America for her contributions to the ''furtherance of international understanding, justice and peace.'' The next year she journeyed to Rome to receive the Ceres Medal of the Food and Agriculture Organization, a specialized United Nations agency, going on to West Africa to study the drought there.

Jimmy Carter called her ''the most influential woman in my life.'' She called him ''just an ordinary little boy,'' adding: ''Actually, his sister Gloria is the most intelligent one in the family.'' Mrs. Carter undertook a number of foreign trips in her son's behalf, including one to Israel in December 1978 for the funeral of Golda Meir, the former Israeli Prime Minister. At Ben-Gurion International Airport, Mrs. Carter noted that Mrs. Meir had said that she wanted no eulogies, then raised her eyes and said: ''Golda, this is not a eulogy to you. This is just me telling you how I wish I had known you.'' Fourth Child in Her Family Born Aug. 15, 1898, in the southwest Georgia town of Richland, Bessie Lillian Gordy was the fourth of nine children of James Jackson (Jim Jack) Gordy, the local postmaster, and Mary Ida Nicholson Gordy. The family also included two adopted children. The Gordys moved to Plains, Ga., in 1921, where, against her family's objections, Lillian began nurses' training at Wise Hospital.

''I always wanted to be a nurse,'' she told The Ladies' Home Journal in 1977. ''I guess if I had my life to live over, I would realize that what I really wanted to be was a doctor.'' On Sept. 25, 1923, after completing her training in Atlanta, Miss Gordy married James Earl Carter, known as Earl, who managed the local farm supply store. James Earl Carter Jr. was born on Oct. 1, 1924. In 1927 the family bought a 700-acre farm in Archery, three miles outside Plains, and later expanded it and acquired a fertilizer bagging and selling plant, a peanut warehouse and a general store for their black farmhands. Mrs. Carter worked as a nurse. ''I do believe in working women,'' she told Ms. Magazine in 1976, ''and I feel so strongly that a child is better off not to have the mother every minute of the time.'' To the astonishment of her white neighbors, Mrs. Carter's work included caring for black patients. And occasionally she received black visitors in the parlor.

'I Was Born a Liberal' In 1964 she was co-chairman of President Johnson's campaign in Sumter County. ''People hated Johnson down here because of his stand on civil rights,'' she recalled years later, ''and it got very ugly.'' ''People say I was kind to all blacks, which I was,'' she said. ''I was born a liberal. My father, whom I adored, was just as kind to blacks as to whites. It was just a normal thing to him. He didn't talk about it.'' ''Now my husband, he was not an integrationist. Earl was of his time. Of his time. He was not like me, certainly, but he did not stop me from doing what I wanted to do.'' In the late 1940's the family moved back to Plains and James Earl Carter Sr. was elected to the Legislature. In 1953 he died of cancer, and his son Jimmy was called home from the Navy to take over the family businesses. First ''bitter,'' then ''bored'' as a widow, Mrs. Carter consulted a friend and decided to take a job as housemother at the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Auburn University in Alabama.

She stayed until 1961, when she returned to Plains. Shortly thereafter, she was back at work, managing a nursing home in Blakely. But she left after two years, complaining that most of the patients were younger than she was. Drawn by Ad for Peace Corps In 1966, when her son was making his first bid for the Georgia Governor's office, an unsuccessful one, Mrs. Carter, then 67, saw a television commercial for the Peace Corps that proclaimed: ''Age is no barrier.'' She volunteered, and asked to go to India, saying, ''I wanted to work with people who were underdogs.'' She began her service in Vikhroli, 15 miles north of Bombay, at the family planning clinic of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing, makers of steel furniture. There, she taught methods of contraception to male workers and assisted with vasectomies. Discouraged at the slow progress of her work, she asked to be transferred to the company's clinic where ''I did everything but fill prescriptions.'' ''I did dressings, injections, helped the doctor examine and diagnose,'' she said.

Forbidden to treat anyone but employees, she dipped into clinic supplies of bandages and drugs to give to the poor; eventually, company officials agreed to distribute supplies at her expense and she solicited contributions from home. Back to U.S. in 1968 Her tour of duty over in 1968, she returned to the United States, saying that her time in India ''meant more to me than any other one thing in my life.'' After Jimmy Carter won the 1976 Democratic Presidential nomination, his mother advised him ''to quit that stuff about never telling a lie and being a Christian and how he loves his wife more than the day he met her,'' and, further, to pick a ''good-looking'' running mate. While she made hundreds of campaign speeches for her son, her main contribution was baby-sitting for his 8-year-old daughter, Amy, whom she called ''my heart.'' ''I'm a Christian but that doesn't mean I'm a long-faced square,'' Mrs. Carter told an interviewer in 1976. She smoked an occasional cigarette and played bridge for money. She also made no secret of her fondness for bourbon.

''I know folks all have a tizzy about it, but I like a little bourbon of an evening,'' she said. ''It helps me sleep. I don't much care what they say about it.'' Avid Reader of Mysteries Mrs. Carter was an avid reader and favored mysteries. While in India she opened a package from home and, she said, ''There was my darling Mickey Spillane looking at me from the back of his book.'' She was also devoted to soap operas (her favorites were ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''All My Children'') and to baseball. She was a staunch Dodger fan, beginning in 1947 with the arrival in Brooklyn of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player. She was also known to leave Plains to see a wrestling match in Columbus. At her ''pond house'' in Plains, a gift from her children when she returned from India, she liked to take long walks and fish for bass. In addition to three of her children, Mrs. Carter is survived by 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Graveside services are scheduled for tomorrow at 3 P.M. at Lebanon Cemetery in Plains, according to a spokesman for the hospital.

The family has requested that flowers not be sent. photos of Lillian Carter Jimmy Carter remembers ‘Miss Lillian’ - TODAY.com Today.com Jimmy Carter remembers ‘Miss Lillian’ 2008-04-27T15:32:11.000Z comment () Known around the world simply as “Miss Lillian,” President Jimmy Carter's mother became America’s First Mama — irrepressible, often hilarious, always a fighter on behalf of the underdog. Now, Jimmy Carter presents an affectionate, funny and moving portrait of Bessie Lillian Gordy Carter in "A Remarkable Mother." Here's an excerpt: Early family yearsBessie Lillian Gordy was born in Chattahoochee County, Georgia, the fifteenth day of August, 1898, and was one of the most extraordinary people I've ever known. She was the fourth of nine children, two of them adopted "double first cousins," and was described in news reports as "third cousin of U.S.

Senators Jesse Helms and Sam Nunn, fourth cousin of Elvis Presley, and mother of President Jimmy Carter." We children thought this diverse heritage partially explained her interest in politics and showmanship, but not some of her other idiosyncrasies.My mother's great-grandfather Wilson Gordy was the first of his family to be born in Georgia, in 1801. He was descended from Peter Gordy, who was born in Somerset County, Maryland, in 1710. We've never attempted to trace the genealogy further, but some of the older kinfolks always said that the Gordys came from France. Wilson moved to West Georgia near the Chattahoochee River in the 1830s, soon after the Lower Creek Indians were forced westward and land was opened to white settlers. All of his possessions were in a large hogshead, with an axle through the center, which rolled down the narrow openings through virgin timber, drawn by his only horse. He soon became known as the best carpenter of what would be Chattahoochee County.

Lillian's grandfather James Thomas Gordy was a wagon master during the Civil War and later county tax collector, and he married Harriet Emily Helms, whose parents came from North Carolina.Lillian's father was James Jackson Gordy, named after an early hero of Revolutionary War days, and he was always known as Jim Jack. A federal government revenue officer in Southwest Georgia and later postmaster in Richland, he became one of the most astute political analysts in his changing communities. Mama's mother was Mary Ida Nicholson, daughter of Nathaniel Nunn Nicholson and granddaughter of Frances Nunn, whose family moved from the Carolinas to Georgia soon after the Revolutionary War. My grandfather Jim Jack was thirteen years old when the "Northern oppressors" finally relinquished political and economic control of the state in 1876, and it was inevitable that there was still a legacy of North-South bitterness among the older relatives in the earliest political discussions I ever heard. Slavery was never mentioned — only the unwarranted violation of states' rights and the intrusion of the federal government in the private lives of citizens.

I remember that my mother was the only one in her family who ever spoke up to defend Abraham Lincoln.I recorded some of my mother's comments about her family: "Well, first of all let me tell you about Mama. She seemed to be real quiet, but she never let Papa push her around. For instance, Papa was quite a dandy when he was young. He was engaged to another woman in Cusseta before he even met my mother, and the wedding was all planned. I never did know if it was a forced wedding or not, but when the time came he got on the train and disappeared, leaving his bride standing at the altar. He stayed away about three months, then came back and started courting Mama. When they were engaged, he was twenty-five and she was just seventeen, but Mama was really feisty. She told him she wasn't going to even dress for the ceremony until she knew he was standing by and ready. She sat in a chair in the preacher's house, with her wedding dress on the bed, until Papa arrived at the church next door and the preacher came over and certified that he was there. Only then did she get up, put on her wedding dress, and join him for the ceremony.

"The newlyweds moved to a little settlement called Brooklyn, just a crossroad with about a dozen families, where Papa had his first job as schoolmaster. Mama always told us about the first meal she cooked. Papa brought home some oysters, and she said the more she boiled them the tougher they got. "Mama took care of the house and all of us children, with not much help from Papa. She had three children one right after another, and then Papa's brother either was shot or killed himself, and Mama took his two boys, my double first cousins. They were Catholics, and we made fun of them when they knelt down to pray or said their catechism. So Mama had five babies at once, none old enough to go to bed without help. Then she skipped three years and I came along, followed by three more — all of us two or three years apart." My grandmother Ida was calm, a homebody, and seemed to be perfectly satisfied with her way of life. She would spend all day in the house and garden, first preparing food for a big family, getting the children off to school, and cleaning the house.

Then she would put on her sunbonnet and work in the large garden, bringing a basket full of seasonal vegetables back into the house. She always cooked a big dinner at noon, including pies, cakes, or fruit puffs for a constant supply of dessert. After the dishes were washed, she would clean the kitchen, wash and iron the family's clothes, and take care of the kids coming home from school, being sure that they did their chores and completed their homework assignments. Then she had to prepare supper, including leftovers plus a few fresh-cooked items. She was up each morning at 4:30 and would light up the woodstove while Grandpa, if he was home and it was winter, would make a fire in the fireplace. On Sundays, everyone went to Sunday School and church, so Grandma had to prepare most of the large dinner in advance, maybe cooking the biscuits and fried chicken after the services were over. For one afternoon a week, she joined some of the other ladies of the community in a quilting bee, all of them sewing while they discussed affairs of their families and the community. I can see now that hers was a complete life, not much different from that of most Southern women of the time.

She was proud and grateful to serve the other members of her family, who more or less took her for granted, just helping with the chores when she asked them. My mother told me, "At times when we were raised there were real hard times, but we got by. I can remember when Mama could send me to the store to get twenty-five cents' worth of steak and it would feed all nine of us." My grandfather was as wide-roving and flamboyant as my grandmother was home-loving and quiet. He was born in 1863 near Columbus, Georgia, and taught school for several years in Brooklyn before moving ten more miles to the larger town of Richland. Jim Jack was a man's man. He was tall, slender, handsome, and always well groomed and neatly dressed. Even on workdays, he preferred to wear a bow tie — never a pre-tied one. Jim Jack was totally committed to mastering the prevailing political situation, as his daughter, my mother, described proudly: "My father could tell you pretty close to what vote any man would get, not only in the county but even in the whole state.

All my life when I was a girl, until I left home to be a nurse, I saw him do this. For local elections, he would write out his predictions of the outcomes and seal them in an envelope. The county clerk would put them in his safe, and then compare the results after votes were counted. But it was just interesting to me to see the lengths he would go to keep up with politics. They would come in droves to see him." Grandpa — of necessity — also demonstrated a remarkable understanding of national elections. During years that long preceded a civil service system in the U.S. government, he was nimble enough on his political feet to guess right in several presidential elections, shifting party allegiance to retain his appointment as postmaster in Richland. Earlier, when Warren Harding was elected in 1920, Grandpa went to make arrangements for the position in the small town of Rhine, the only rural Republican stronghold, where federal appointments were dispensed because of political support — or bribes. They had already allotted the postmaster's position but promised Jim Jack the next appointment and gave him an interim job as chief revenue agent for our region.

As a former schoolmaster, he kept meticulous records, and I still have one of his notebooks covering two months in 1922, showing that he destroyed thirty-six stills during that time. Later, I heard my father say that this was one job for which Grandpa and his sons were especially qualified, having done business with most of the moonshiners in the area. Grandpa would take a "sociable" drink on frequent occasions, but I never knew him to be tipsy enough to lose his composure or bring ridicule on himself. He had two sons, though, who had serious problems with whiskey. Jim Jack's only unswerving political allegiance was to Tom Watson, who was a Democratic congressman in North Georgia but was disavowed by his party when he advocated equal economic treatment for black and white workers and small farmers. Watson joined the Populist Party and in 1896 was nominated as vice president on William Jennings Bryan's Populist ticket. He was elected by Georgians to the U.S. Senate after he changed his political philosophy almost completely and ran on a racist platform.

My grandfather considered his own greatest achievement to be suggesting the concept of rural delivery of mail to Tom Watson, who got the proposal passed into law. Among mementos we inherited from Grandpa were letters between him and Watson on this subject, as well as Watson's biography of Thomas Jefferson, which, for some reason, was dedicated to the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. A couple of times each year, my mother would get word that "Papa has gone again." Grandpa would pack a small suitcase, get a supply of flour, meal, sugar, coffee, side meat, some liquid refreshments — and a good supply of books — and tell his wife, "Ida, I'm going out to the farm for a while." She had learned that protests were fruitless, so she would tell him goodbye and expect to see him again in two or three weeks. They owned a small, remote farm in Webster County near Kinchafoonee Creek with a tenant shack on it, mostly woodland with not enough open land to farm. It was a haven for Grandpa, away from the hurly-burly of home life.

When he would finally tire of the solitude or feel that his official duties couldn't spare him longer, he would return home as though he had just been down at the drugstore, with no thought of apologies or explanations for his absence. It was an accepted fact within our family that the Gordys couldn't get along with each other long enough to enjoy a full meal together. Sometimes on the way to Sunday dinner in Richland after church in Plains, Daddy and Mama would try to guess what would precipitate the main argument of the day. Although my father teased Mother about the Gordys' arguments, I don't remember his family ever having a Sunday meal together. Grandpa Gordy was a restless man, always preferring to be somewhere else than with his own family or with boring companions. The only exception was my mother, whom he invited to serve as his assistant in the post office until she moved from Richland to Plains. Jim Jack finally lost his government job in 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected, and had to become a dirt farmer, trying to support his family on a hardscrabble farm that he rented not too far from where we lived near Plains.

I remember him, tall and slender, wearing overalls with a buttoned shirt and a bow tie, walking behind a muledrawn plow in a futile attempt to control Bermuda grass in a scraggly cotton field.Recently I found a small homemade diary book that Grandma Gordy kept from March 1932 until August 1936, during the depths of the Great Depression. The occasional entries concentrate on the status of her children, especially Tom, who was traveling all over the Pacific Ocean in the navy. During the time they were farming near Plains, one entry was extraordinarily personal: "Papa is somewhat peeved tonight about his mule, afraid he is sick. He said if the mule died I would have to look out for myself. I said I hope he dies then. He knew I did not mean that, but seems like I just can't say a word lately but what he takes it for the worst. Such is life." Then she wrote, "I should not have written the above, but have no rubber on my pencil to spoil it out." Later, she wrote, "The old mule died Friday. This is two mules to die since we've been here. We will get along some way.

God will not forsake us." Another entry, in February 1935, describes a notable characteristic of her husband: "J.J. has gone to Richland. Seems it would make him sick to not be going all the time. He loves to be on the go."My mother always remained very proud of her special relationship with Grandpa. She told me, "There was no doubt that I was Papa's favorite. Everyone in the family knew it. I guess one reason was that I didn't always accept what he said as the gospel truth, and would argue with some of his opinions. Looking back, I see that I was always careful not to go too far with it, and to back off if it looked like he was getting too aggravated. In a lot of cases, though, particularly when he and I were alone at the post office, I think he liked for me to speak up so we could have something of a debate. "I read more than anyone else in the family — except him, of course — and I tried to learn about things that interested him. Sometimes he would give me a book he had just read, and we both looked forward to a fierce discussion about the subject.

One thing I liked about working at the post office was that both of us could find time to read on the job. Another thing was that we probably knew more than anybody else about what was going on around Richland. Papa handled a lot of telegraph messages, and taught telegraphy to two of his sons. He had a way of absorbing the news, but always cautioned me about not repeating gossip we heard if it would hurt anyone. I loved Mama and Papa, but I have to admit that I was ready to leave home and go in nurses' training, and when I got to Plains I didn't go back very often." I remember that after I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, in 1946, I borrowed my daddy's automobile and drove the eighteen miles from Plains to Richland. I stopped by my grandparents' home and enjoyed some sweet milk and blackberry pie while telling Grandma about my new career. She then told me that Jim Jack was downtown in Richland, "probably at the drugstore." I walked there and, sure enough, found my grandfather with some other loafers assembled around one of the glass-topped tables, drinking Cokes and engaged in a heated discussion of some local issue.

I stood behind him for a few minutes, until one of the men noticed my uniform and indicated my presence to Grandpa.When he turned around, I could tell that he didn't recognize me, and I blurted out, "Grandpa, I'm Jimmy, Lillian's son." He shook my hand and said, "Boy, I'm real glad to see you again." Then he turned back and continued his conversation. I stood there a few minutes, then went back home and off to my first ship. That was the last time I saw him before he died a few months later. The temperaments of the younger Gordys mirrored the stark differences in the characters of their parents. The girls had professional careers, married well, and raised fairly stable families, in some ways like their mother, but the boys were more like Grandpa — without his reading habits, interest in politics, or self-restraint regarding alcohol. Excerpted from "A Remarkable Mother," by Jimmy Carter. Copyright © 2008 Jimmy Carter. Reprinted with permission from Simon and Schuster. All rights reserved. Lillian Gordy Carter: The Play - Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (U.S.

National Park Service) Lillian Gordy Carter: The Play Cover of Jimmy Carter's book, A Remarkable Mother. NPS Contact: Steve Theus , 229-824-4104 In honor of National Women's History Month, the staff of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (JCNHS) is pleased to honor the contribution of great women to the success of the American nation. Lillian Gordy Carter, mother of Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, was a well-known and respected registered nurse in Plains and Archery, Georgia. Lovingly referred to as Miss Lillian, she was best known for her caring and nurturing demeanor, best exemplified by her unwillingness to conform to racial stereotypes which dominated the segregated Jim Crow South. To honor the memory and contributions to the American Presidency and thus the United States, the Plains Historical Preservation Trust has commissioned a play about Miss Lillian.

Research conducted by Annette wise and Kim Fuller was utilized to craft the play which transports the audience through the life of Miss Lillian, beginning with her nurses training at Wise Sanitarium in the 1920's and ending with the changes she endured during the mid-1970's as she entered into volunteer work through the Peace Corps in India. As the story unfolds, one learns of Miss Lillian's love for nursing and her unwavering ability to help those in need. The life of this remarkable woman is told through dramatic presentation as the viewer learns of some of the hardships as well as the joys of Miss Lillian's life. Lillian Gordy Carter: The Play will be presented in partnership with the JCNHS, the Plains Historical Preservation Trust, the Plains Better Hometown Program on March 21, 2015 at 6pm in the Plains High School (PHS) Museum auditorium. There is no admission fee and light refreshments will be provided following the program.

The staff of JCNHS would like to extend an invitation to everyone to attend the event and learn about this influential woman, leader, and trailblazer to better understand the contributions of women to American history as well as the making of the 39th President of the United States. The staff of the JCNHS look forward to meeting you for the performance. Carter Family | New Georgia Encyclopedia Billy Carter The election of Plains native Jimmy Carter to the U.S. presidency in 1976 brought members of his immediate and extended family into the public eye. Carter is the oldest of four children born to Earl Carter and Lillian Gordy Carter, as well as the husband of Rosalynn Carter , with whom he has four children. Earl Carter James Earl Carter, called Earl, was born in 1894 in Calhoun County . He attended Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville and served during World War I (1917-18). Upon his return to Georgia after the war, Earl owned a peanut -shelling plant and farmed in Sumter County , where he met and married Lillian Gordy. He also ran a small general store and, later, a large warehouse for farmers in Plains.

Prospering, he owned hundreds of acres of land by the time the future president was three years old. The family employed household help and many laborers in the fields. Politically active, Earl served on the Sumter County school board and the Rural Electrification Administration board in Sumter County before his election as a state legislator , a position he held for a year before his death in 1953 from pancreatic cancer , the same disease that later killed both of his daughters and his younger son. Lillian Gordy Carter Lillian Gordy Carter was born in Richland in 1898. Her father, James Jackson Gordy, instilled in his daughter a strong interest in social justice. She married Earl Carter in 1923 and made her home in Plains with him. During the first decades of their marriage, Lillian, a registered nurse, worked in a local hospital and often provided care without charge for patients who could not afford treatment, many of whom were African Americans.

From 1955 to 1962 she was housemother to an Auburn University fraternity in Auburn, Alabama, and in her late sixties she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in India, from 1966 to 1968. Known to the public as "Miss Lillian," the president's mother was politically active for decades before his election, helping her husband in his campaign for the state legislature, running the campaign office for U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson in Sumter County, and later making more than 600 speeches during her son's campaign for president. Outspoken on progressive issues in a time before many southern women were politically active, "Miss Lillian" was a role model for many, including her eldest son. Lillian Carter received the Covenant of Peace award in 1977 from the Synagogue Council of America and was named honorary chair of the Peace Corps National Advisory Council in 1980. She died in Americus in 1983. In 2008 Jimmy Carter published a biography of her entitled A Remarkable Mother.

Jimmy Carter Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Earl Carter Jr., known as Jimmy, was born in Plains on October 1, 1924. After first attending Georgia Southwestern College (later Georgia Southwestern State University ) and the Georgia Institute of Technology , Carter graduated in 1946 from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. That same year he married Plains native Rosalynn Smith and began service in the navy, which lasted until his father's death in 1953, when Carter returned to Plains to run the family business. Carter entered politics in 1962 with his election to the Georgia senate. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1966 but four years later was elected to that office. In 1976 Carter entered the race for the U.S. presidency and won the election over Republican candidate Gerald R. Ford. Following his failed bid for reelection in 1980, Carter returned to Georgia, where he established the Carter Center in Atlanta and became a professor at Emory University . Hailed worldwide in the years after leaving the White House for his efforts to advance peace and democracy, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

He is also the author of numerous books, ranging in genre from political analysis to memoir to fiction, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are the parents of four children: Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy. Although born in various places during Carter's time in the navy, all four children are graduates of Plains High School. Jack Carter Jimmy and Jack Carter William Carter, known as Jack, was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947. He earned a degree in nuclear physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a law degree at the University of Georgia . After a tour of duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1961-75), Jack practiced law in Calhoun . He later took a job as a foreign-exchange advisor with the Chicago Board of Trade in Illinois. His first marriage, to Judy Langford of Calhoun, produced two children, Jason James (born in 1975) and Sarah Rosemary (born in 1978). Jack lives in Nevada with his second wife, Elizabeth Brasfield, who has two children, Sarah and John Chuldenko, from a previous marriage. Jack's son, Jason, followed in his great-grandmother's footsteps by joining the Peace Corps.

After completing a degree in political science at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, he was posted to Lesotho, South Africa, from 1998 to 2000. Upon his return, Jason attended law school at the University of Georgia and wrote a book, Power Lines: Two Years on South Africa's Borders, about his experience in the Peace Corps. In 2006 Jason and his wife, Katie, had their first child, Henry Lewis Carter, the first great-grandchild of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Chip Carter Carter Family Earl III Carter, known as Chip, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1950. He was educated in public schools before going to work in his family's peanut business and has participated in a variety of business ventures. Active in politics, Chip served as a member of the Plains City Council and participated on the Democratic National Committee. He also served as president of an international exchange program, Friendship Force, which was cofounded in 1977 by his parents. His marriage to Caron Griffin in 1973 produced one child, James Earl IV, who was born in 1977.

After a divorce in 1980, Chip married again. His second marriage, to Ginger Hodges of Americus, produced one child, Margaret Alicia, born in 1987. Today he lives in Decatur with his third wife, Becky Payne. Jeff Carter Donnel Jeffrey Carter, known as Jeff, was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. He graduated with honors from George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., where he completed a degree in geography, and he is the cofounder of Computer Mapping Consultants, based in Kingwood, West Virginia. Jeff married Annette Jene Davis of Arlington in 1975. The couple has three children: Joshua Jeffrey (born in 1984), Jeremy Davis (born in 1987), and James Carlton (born in 1991). Jeff lives in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Amy Carter Amy and Jimmy Carter Lynn Carter, born in Plains in 1967, was a young girl during her father's presidential tenure (1977-81). From the time television crews captured her being awakened to hear that her father had won the election, Amy was the object of frequent attention in the press.

After attending Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, she received her master's degree in art history at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1995 she collaborated with her father on a children's book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, and she later illustrated his memoir, Christmas in Plains (2001) . Amy married James Gregory Wentzel in 1996, and they became the parents of Hugo James in 1999. The family resides in Atlanta. Quoted by her father during his presidential campaign for her pro-disarmament stance on nuclear weapons and active in anti-apartheid demonstrations during college, Amy demonstrates an outspokenness reminiscent of her paternal grandmother's. She was elected in 1998 to the Board of Councilors at the Carter Center. Gloria Carter Spann Gloria Carter, the second child of Earl and Lillian Carter, was born in Plains in 1926. She married an air force captain, William Hardy, in 1945, and the couple had one son, William T. Carter Hardy, before divorcing in 1949. The son took the surname Spann after he was adopted by Walter G.

Spann, whom Gloria married in 1950. Known for her love of traveling on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Gloria worked for a time as an art teacher and on the family farm in Plains. She died in 1990 of pancreatic cancer. Ruth Carter Stapleton Ruth Carter was born in 1929 and married veterinarian Robert T. Stapleton in 1948. The Stapletons had four children: Lynn, Scott, Patricia, and Michael. Living in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Ruth became a well-known Christian evangelist and faith healer. She died in 1983 of pancreatic cancer. Billy Carter Jimmy and Billy Carter Alton Carter, known as Billy, was born in 1937. During his brother's presidency, Billy was portrayed in the media as a "good ole boy" with a fondness for beer and celebrity. Despite his public image, Billy was both well educated, having attended Emory University in Atlanta for a couple of years, and well read, having inherited a habit of voracious reading from his mother. Billy returned to Plains after serving in the Marine Corps as a private from 1955 to 1959.

He married Sybil Spires, also of Plains, in 1955 and became the father of six children: Kim, Jana Kae, William "Buddy," Marle, Mandy, and Earl. Billy ran the family business in Plains during most of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1979 he entered an alcohol rehabilitation program, and during the 1980s he traveled the country, lecturing about his struggles with alcoholism and, later, pancreatic cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 1987. He died in 1988. You Might Also Like Bessie Lillian Carter (Gordy) (1898 - 1983) - Genealogy Bessie Lillian Carter her daughter 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 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 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 (1926-1990), Ruth (1929-1983) and 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 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. 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 (48 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. 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 (48 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.

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 press for her 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?

Lillian died on October 30, 1983, at age 85 in Americus, Georgia. Афоризму.нет - Авторы - Биография Lillian Gordy Carter Final years and death § Nurse and mother Carter was born Bessie Lillian Gordy to James Jackson Gordy (1863–1948) and Mary Ida Nicholson (1871–1951) in Richland, Georgia in 1898. She is a half first-cousin of Berry Gordy, Sr., the father of Berry Gordy, Jr.,[citation needed] who founded Motown records. She volunteered to serve as a nurse with the U.S. Army in 1917 but the program was cancelled. 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 Sanitarium before completing her nursing degree at the Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia 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, allowed black people to enter her home through the front door, rather than through the back door as was the social norm, 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 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 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 (1926–1990), Ruth (1929–1983) and 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 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 as a dormitory housemother. A year after completing her service at Auburn, Carter managed a nursing home in Blakely. Lillian later became a social activist, working for desegregation and providing medical care to African-Americans 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 (48 km) from Mumbai. Lillian worked in the Godrej Colony for 21 months, during which she aided patients afflicted by leprosy. 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 With Jimmy Carter, February 17, 1977 When Jimmy Carter decided to run for president, his mother was one of the first people he told. He was initially regarded as a dark horse candidate for the Democratic Party nomination. 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 press for her 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 all my children sometimes I say to myself, Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin." When Jimmy told his mother he was going to run for president, she said "President of what?". In 1977, Lillian Carter appeared in a cameo, as herself, in the made-for-TV movie, "Lucy Calls the President", starring Lucille Ball. When son Billy's beer business had its ribbon cutting ceremony, a friend questioned Carter on whether or not she would attend. She remarked: "I attended Jimmy's inauguration didn't I?" Together with vice-president Walter Mondale, Lilian Carter was head of US delegation to funeral of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. On the day of Jimmy's inauguration, Carter 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, Carter was diagnosed with breast cancer. While her cancer was in remission in April 1983, her younger daughter, Ruth Stapleton was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died on September 26, 1983, at 54. Carter herself succumbed to breast, bone and pancreatic cancers a month later on October 30, 1983, at age 85 in Americus, Georgia. Her three surviving children were by her side at her death. Carter 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. In addition to her husband, three of her children, Billy Carter, Ruth Carter Stapleton and Gloria Spann, also died from pancreatic cancer; only the former president has not inherited the disease as of 2014, but in 2010, he had a severe stomach ache which was mistaken as that disease. He has become a fund-raiser and booster for research into a cure for the disease.

In 2001, a major nursing center was dedicated in her honor in Plains by Jimmy Carter in recognition of first years of service to the community as a nurse. Авторы Attention:You are browsing our famous burial locations. If you are looking for a non-famous grave, please start from our home page . b. October 14, 1893 d. February 27, 1993 Actress. Legendary actress mostly remembered for her ability to play vulnerable and waif-like fragile, yet inwardly strong roles in many silent films, including her most famous roles in "Birth of a Nation" (1915) and "Intolerance" (1916).� In 1984, she received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award. Born Lillian Diana de Guiche, on October 14, 1893, in Springfield, Ohio, her father was an alcoholic who left the family to fend for itself.� To help make ends meet, Lillian, her... [Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson ) Cause of death: Heart failure b. December 13, 1910 d.

May 12, 1980 Actress, Singer. She was born Lillian Rutstein in Boston to (hopeful actors) Arthur and Katie Rutstein with younger sister Anne following two years later. They were relentless in their goal to introduce the girls to show business. In 1916, when Lillian was five and Anne three, the family moved to New York City to be near the various casting offices. Education films became the start of Lillians entry into show business after becoming their living trademark as a statue holding a lamp... [Read More] (Bio by: Donald Greyfield ) Plot: Section 26, Grave 039 b. August 15, 1898 d. October 30, 1983 Author, Social Activist, Mother of US President Jimmy Carter. Fondly known as "Miss Lillian," she is remembered for her contribution to nursing in her home state of Georgia and as a Peace Corps volunteer in India, as well as her Southern charm and down-to-earth manner. Her father was the postmaster in Richland, Georgia who greatly influenced her liberal views.

After the US entered World War I in April 1917, she volunteered to serve as a nurse with the US Army but the program was cancelled. She... [Read More] (Bio by: William Bjornstad ) b. March 11, 1898 d. June 4, 1968 Actress. She is most remembered for her ability to play vulnerable yet inwardly strong roles in many silent films, including her most famous roles in "Judith of Bethulia" (1914) and "Hearts of the World" (1918). Born Dorothy Elizabeth de Guiche in Massillon, Ohio, her father was an alcoholic who left the family to fend for itself. To help make ends meet, Dorothy, her older sister Lillian, and her mother acted in local productions. Dorothy made her first stage appearance with her sister, and... [Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson ) Cause of death: Bronchial pneumonia Nordica, Lillian b. December 12, 1857 d. May 10, 1914 Opera Singer.

One of the first American-born operatic stars, she was a leading soprano of the late 19th. century. Born Lillian Allen Norton she was raised initially in Maine and later in Boston; after study at the New England Conservatory of Music she made her professional debut with Boston's Handel and Haydn Society. Lillian traveled to Milan for further training and in 1879 made her operatic bow at the Northern Italian city of Brescia; around the time of her debut a conductor gave her the... [Read More] (Bio by: Bob Hufford ) Plot: Cremated remains in family plot b. May 27, 1967 d. February 20, 2006 British Actress of stage, movies and television. Raised in a theatrical family (she was the daughter of actress Sheila Gish), she originally studied art, and took a BA Honours degree from Chamberwell School of Art. For a time she considered journalism as a career, and even won a prize for an article in "Harpers".

However, by the mid-1990s, she was following the family profession; her television debut was in "Game On" in 1996. Over the next decade she had re-occuring roles in a number of... [Read More] (Bio by: Bob Hufford ) Zuckerman (Stein), Lillian (Lillian Fara) b. September 15, 1916 d. October 12, 2004 Actress. A longtime character actress Zuckerman appeared in many films that were set in or had something to do with Florida. Among her films are, "Lenny" (1974), "Deadbeat" (1976), "Nobody's Perfekt" (1981), "The Mean Season" (1985), and Making Mr. Right" (1987). Zuckerman also was a model, voice actress, and also appeared in commercials, and episodes of such television shows as "Miami Vice." (Bio by: K ) * Find A Grave is currently seeking additional burial information for this individual. Please email with any updates you may have. Thank you! b.

July 22, 1923 d. November 2, 2007 Professional Wrestler. Known as "Fabulous Moolah", she was the longest reigning Women's Champion in sports-entertainment history. She began her wrestling career in the 1940s and was the WWE Women's World Champion for 28 years from 1956 to 1984. In 1995, she was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame, becoming the first female wrestler ever to receive that honor. (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith ) Forbes, Ralph b. September 30, 1896 d. March 31, 1951 Actor. Son of the actress Mary Forbes, brother of actress Brenda Forbes. Ralph appeared in stage productions as a juvenile and in films from the age of 19. He came to Hollywood in 1926 to co-star in the Paramount big-budgeter "Beau Geste" and thereafter appeared in a variety of silent films, opposite such actresses as Norma Shearer and [Read More] (Bio by: MC ) Plot: Ashes sent to Ontario, Canada.

b. January 2, 1882 d. February 15, 1931 Circus Star. In 1915 Lillian joined the Ringling Brothers Circus. In 1927 she married Alfredo Codona of the Codona�s Family in Chicago. On Feburary 13, 1931, Lillian had finished the first part of her act on the Roman Rings, and had climbed the web with the swivel and ring for the second half when the swivel snapped. She fell twenty feet to the ground, landing on her back and shoulders. She insisted that she was alright, saying "I can go on.", On Sunday morning, Feburary 15, 1931, the... [Read More] Cause of death: Complications from a fall GPS coordinates: 33.9697800, -118.3394775 (hddd.dddd) b. June 20, 1905 d. June 30, 1984 Playwright. Born in New Orleans to Max and Julia Hellman. Attended both New York University and Columbia University.

She began her literary career reviewing books for the "New York Herald Tribune" and had some short stories published. Married to playwright Arthur Kober (1925-1932). In 1930 she moved to Hollywood where she reviewed movie scripts for MGM. She also met author Dashiell Hammett and would have an intimate relationship with him until his death. Hammett maintained Lillian was the... [Read More] (Bio by: Nan ) b. January 1, 1919 d. July 5, 1948 Actress. A popular film star of the 1930s and 1940s, she was dubbed the "Sweater Girl" early in her career. Born in Fairchild, Wisconsin, under the name of Frances Lillian Mary Ridste, her father, Alfred Ridste, a railroad mechanic, abandoned his wife, Clara Stentek Ridste, and their three children to fend for themselves at the beginning of the Great Depression. At age 15, Carole married Irving Wheeler, but the union was quickly annulled (the couple remarried in 1934). She worked as a dancer...

[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson ) Plot: Everlasting Love, Lot 814, space 8 (next to curb) GPS coordinates: 34.1262398, -118.2468414 (hddd.dddd) b. February 6, 1908 d. September 16, 1932 Actress. She committed suicide by jumping off the "H" in the "Hollywoodland" sign that overlooked Hollywood, California. In 1945, the "land" portion of the sign was removed, leaving only the now famous "Hollywood." Born Lillian Millicent Entwistle in Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom, her birth date is given as either July 1, 1908 or as February 6, 1908, depending upon the document. Nicknamed Peg, she became interested in the stage as a child. Her mother died when she was very young, and her...

[Read More] (Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson ) Cause of death: Suicide Plot: Section 12, Lot 27, Grave 10 Chandler (Barrett), Janet (Lillian) b. December 31, 1903 d. March 16, 1994 Actress. Born Lillian Barrett in Pine Bluffs, Arkansas, she made her screen debut in "The Three Musketeers" (1921), followed by " Inez from Hollywood" (1922). A popular performer in the 1930s, she appeared in "The Golden West" (1932), "Cowboy Holiday" (1934), "House of Danger" (1934), "Cyclone of the Saddle" (1935) "Rough Riding Ranger" (1935), Million Dollar Haul" (1935) and "Now or Never" (1935). (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith ) Cause of death: Heart failure after stroke Plot: Buried in the Guenther plot. b.

February 15, 1899 d. December 16, 1997 Long-time wife of entertainment legend Walt Disney . She was also a leading patron of the arts, helping to found the California Institute of the Arts. Lillian is interred along with Walt, her husband of 41 years. (Bio by: A.J. Marik ) Plot: To the left of the Freedom Mausoleum entrance. Plaque partially hidden by bushes. b. August 1, 1907 d. February 27, 1972 Actress. Born Lillian Bradley, Miles is best remembered for playing 'Blanche' in "Tell Your Children" aka "Love Madness." (1938) In 1932, Miles had been submitted by Columbia Pictures for the WAMPAS Baby Star honors, but was disqualified apparently because she left the studio before the final selection was made. Miles died of bleeding ulcer. (Bio by: MC ) Lillian Carter Play - Jimmy Carter National Historic Site (U.S.

National Park Service) Lillian Carter Play Contact: Steve Theus , (229) 824-4104 A Remarkable Mother is a book written by Jimmy Carter about his mother Miss Lillian Carter. Book Cover March is National Women's History Month and what an honor it is to pay tribute to the accomplishments of great women from all walks of life. From the homemaker to the CEO's to the political arena, women have made great strides to help build this nation. The Plains Historical Preservation Trust has commissioned a play about Miss Lillian Carter, "Miss Lillian", as she was known by many. The play is based on research conducted by Annette Wise and Kim Fuller that includes oral histories, letters written by Lillian Carter and other family members, television interviews and books written by Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, Hugh Carter, Lillian Carter and Gloria Carter Spann.Kim Fuller has used this research to craft a play which reflects the life of Lillian Carter. Lillian Carter, mother of former President Jimmy Carter, had a tremendous impact on her family and others in the community. As a nurse in Plains, she touched the lives of many people, often providing health care for those who were unable to pay for medical attention.

Her nursing skills would eventually carry her to India as a Peace Corps volunteer. The play begins with Kim Fuller as her grandmother reminiscing of earlier years as she searches for a book in the Carter Pond House attic. The play takes the audience through the life of Lillian Carter as a young nurse trainee at Wise Sanatorium in the 1920s through the changes she endured through the mid-1970s. As the story unfolds, you learn of Miss Lillian's love for nursing and her unique ability to help others in need as well as her love for her family. The life of this remarkable woman is told through dramatic presentation as the viewer learns of some of the hardships as well as the joys of Lillian Carter's life. Lillian Gordy Carter: The Play will be presented in partnership with the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, the Plains Historical Preservation Trust and the Plains Better Hometown Program, on March 29, 2014, at 6pm at the Plains High School auditorium a part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, Georgia. There is no admission fee for the play and there will be light refreshments provided.

President Jimmy Carter's new book, A Call To Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, will be available for purchase in the bookstore of the museum. We invite everyone to come out and learn about this great woman, leader, trailblazer and mother of the 39th President of the United States.

Question: Which US president's mother was known as 'Miss Lillian'?
Answer: Jimmy Carter