Ingram, Edith

Edith Ingram, Hancock County (Ga.) probate judge and secretary to the Georgia Council on Human Relations.

A native of Hancock County in Sparta, Georgia, Edith Jacqueline Ingram is one of four children of Katherine Hunt Ingram and Robert T. Ingram, past member of the Sparta School Board. Ingram became a judge at a time when civil unrest was at its height in Hancock County, Georgia.

Ingram initially wanted to pursue a career in nursing. She moved to New York City to attend New York City College for Nurses after high school. Ingram then returned to Georgia and enrolled in Fort Valley State College where she obtained her B.S. degree in education. She taught elementary school in Griffin, Georgia and Hancock County for five years. Ingram's father, the only black on the school board, prompted his daughter to run for office after he endured a grand insult from the county judge and responded by informing her that her term was over.

In the general election, Ingram won and took her oath of office. She served as probate judge in Hancock County for thirty-six years, where she presided over wills, marriages, misdemeanors, felonies and civil disobedience cases. She retired from the bench in 2004. Ingram has been recognized for her work by governors. She was appointed to serve as a member of the State Democratic Executive Committee by President Jimmy Carter (then Governor of Georgia) and Lieutenant Colonel Ade De Camp and was also appointed by the Governor's Staff in 1983 by then Governor Joe Frank Harris.

Ingram is active in the Sparta community and is a member of Georgia Association of Probate Judges, the Georgia Coalition of Black Women (Hancock Chapter and State President), the National College of Probate Judges, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Hancock Women's Club, the Hancock County NAACP and the Democratic Club. She also served on the Board of the Ebony International Learning Academy and Preparatory School.