Hamilton named Judson’s 2011 outstanding alumna

Frances Dew Hamilton has spent her life serving Samford University in Birmingham.

Hamilton was an assistant professor of history at Samford for 37 years and worked on its campus for 13 years as executive director of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission (ABHC) — the first woman to direct an entity of the state Baptist convention.

And Samford’s sister Baptist school, Judson College in Marion, honored her as its 2011 outstanding alumna at the recent J-Day weekend. One of the people who nominated Hamilton, current ABHC Executive Director Lonette Berg, said she “embodies the qualities of a Judson graduate — excellent character, determined leadership, willingness to serve, strong Christian values and unfailing loyalty. She is a tireless proponent of Judson College, encouraging all young women she encounters to consider Judson as their college choice.”

Hamilton graduated from Judson in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in history and French. In 1959, she earned a master’s degree in history from the University of Georgia, where she worked as a graduate teaching assistant. Judson awarded her the doctor of humane letters degree in 1992.

As a historian, Hamilton served Alabama Baptist churches, associations and state convention entities and auxiliaries by encouraging and assisting them in collecting and preserving of their history and heritage. She co-authored “Daughters of the Dream,” the history of Judson published in 1989, and currently is updating it for the college’s 175th anniversary in 2013. Hamilton also was elected to the Judson board of trustees by the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 2007. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Delta Phi, the Alabama Association of Historians, the Alabama Historical Association, the Baptist History & Heritage Society and the Southern Historical Association. Hamilton previously served as a vocalist and pianist at First Baptist Church, Trussville, and is now a member of First Baptist Church, Montgomery.

She and her late husband, Taylor, are the parents of Col. Charles Hamilton, who currently is serving in the U.S. Air Force in Iraq.