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Local History: Outspoken Abby Milton was a force for women’s suffrage

Staff File Photo By Robin Rudd / The League of Women Voters of Chattanooga held a dedication ceremony last year to celebrate suffragist Abby Crawford Milton's work across the state for passage of the 19th amendment, ultimately winning women the right to vote. The ceremony was held in Philips Park at the corner of McCallie and Georgia avenues, where Milton's historical marker stands.
Staff File Photo By Robin Rudd / The League of Women Voters of Chattanooga held a dedication ceremony last year to celebrate suffragist Abby Crawford Milton's work across the state for passage of the 19th amendment, ultimately winning women the right to vote. The ceremony was held in Philips Park at the corner of McCallie and Georgia avenues, where Milton's historical marker stands.

By Mickey Robbins 4 min read

Abby Crawford Milton is best known as a pioneer for women’s suffrage, but she also wrote novels and newspaper columns, owned the Chattanooga News, led civic causes, and befriended politicians and artists. She was always outspoken.

Born in Milledgeville, Ga., in 1881 to a publishing family, she attended Georgia Women’s College. During summer school in Knoxville, she met George Fort Milton.

“The first two or three times he proposed to me, I laughed at him,” she said. “Southern girls didn’t take men so seriously in those days, and I don’t remember ever saying ‘yes’ formally. But when he told me we couldn’t get married until after he bought a new press for his paper [the Chattanooga News], he convinced me that he was an earnest man, indeed.”

While her husband was busy with the newspaper, she attended the Chattanooga College of Law and amazed fellow students with her straight A’s and glib tongue.

“I had a natural sense for law that helped me with my thinking,” she said, “but I never planned to practice as an attorney. Actually I went to law school to impress the courthouse crowd. Later I found that they didn’t lie to me as much when they learned of my legal background.”