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Pictured left to right: Shelia Maher, Crystal Shepherd, Jeanell Spearman, Teddy Barker, Carol Dingman, Jessica Smith, Regina Atwell Edwards and Becky Miller

Today, our Club has 61 members, 14 of whom are women.  This is an all-time high for female membership in our club.  For 25 years, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Rotary Club was for men only.  On May 4, 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Rotary clubs may not exclude women from membership on the basis of gender.  Patsy Fulton, then-President of Brookhaven Community College, was our Club’s first female member.

On May 3, 2012, we marked this important anniversary by highlighting our female members.  Jessica Smith, a new member, recounted the history leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision, and told us what Rotary membership means to her as a young professional.  In 1998, our club elected its first female President, Teddy Barker.  Teddy returned for a visit and told of her Rotary experience.  Regina Edwards represented the other 3 female Presidents our Club has had -- Jeannie Hooker in 2002, Regina in 2005 and Allison Fanin in 2010.  Last but not least, Dick Calvert, who was there when it happened, gave us a behind the scenes look at how women got into our Club.

Carol Dingman organized and moderated the program. As the second woman to join - on August 1, 1988 - she told of her introduction to Rotary through who else, but Catfish Montgomery.  The program closed with a pledge by the women to work for our Club as “Equal Partners” with the men
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