AMERICUS, Ga. — Long before she reached the White House, Rosalynn Carter ventured into politics on the Georgia Southwestern State University campus.
Vice President of her class, founding member of the Young Democrats Club, Campus Marshal and Tumbling Club participant, Rosalynn Smith was an active student until she graduated with a junior college diploma in 1946.
Now, two buildings on campus bear her name, together called the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex. The first building houses the university's nursing school. The second is home to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers and the Psychology Department.
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Mrs. Carter reminisced on her school days during the dedication in 2013: “I rode a Trailways bus from Plains every day. A friend picked me up at the bus station and we came to the college together.”
Thirty years later, she would become the First Lady of the United States, but she never forgot her alma mater, often returning to speak at events and accept awards.
When she and President Carter left the White House, her work and legacy followed her home.
Mrs. Carter protested the bronze statue of her likeness in the courtyard in front of her namesake complex, but she was deeply honored the buildings bore her name.
Mrs. Carter spoke about it during the dedication in 2013: “I remember appearing before the board to get these two buildings on the list. Never did I dream that they would bear my name.”
In 1987, she founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI) and took a quietly suffering issue nationwide.
Dr. Jennifer Olsen has been the Institute’s CEO since 2018.
“We’ve directly served tens of thousands of caregivers,” she said. “We made a decision to go national, to take what we’re learning in our Georgia backyard and share that, to use her unique platform to speak to federal policymakers and employers to say we all have a role in supporting caregivers.”
As the campus prepares to lay wreaths at her feet, Mrs. Carter’s legacy lives beyond the name and building to something more.
As Dr. Charles Huffman, Chair of the Georgia Southwestern Psychology Department at the time, said in 2013, “This place is more than buildings. This place was named for a special woman . . . so this place will reflect more than a name. It will reflect a spirit, the spirit of Rosalynn Carter, a spirit that embodies everything good about being human.”
A condolence book for the Carter family will be located inside the building named Carter I for the campus community and public to sign through Wednesday, November 29, 2023.
The public is also invited to sign the online condolence book to pay respects to Mrs. Carter.