(1903 – 1983)
Miss Annie Mae Boynton, the second of four children of the late Will H. Boynton and Carrie L. Jones Boynton, was born April 13, 1903, in Griffin, Georgia. Samuel W. Boynton, Sr., Julia M. Boynton, and Robert S. Boynton are the other siblings of this union.
Miss Boynton received her preparatory education in The Public Schools of Griffin; her normal and college educations at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, graduating in the class of 1928. During the course of her career, she participated in numerous training programs, workshops, and short courses, which were planned for professional Extension Workers and held throughout the Southeastern United States. In 1965, she was selected to represent Alabama at a special three-week workshop entitled “Human Relations and Development,” sponsored by and held at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
From July 1928 to June 1965, she served as Negro Home Demonstration Agent and from July 1965 to April 1971 as Home Demonstration Agent. Her entire career, which spanned forty-three years, was spent in Montgomery County teaching club women and 4-H Club girls new methods in personal, family, home, and community living.
In terms of Miss Boynton’s professionalism, she was a Home Demonstration Agent’s home demonstration agent and inspired all home demonstration agents within her immediate environment. She was a role model for club women and 4-H Club girls, leading many of them into careers in home economics as well as other rewarding professions.
Miss Boynton utilized a number of teaching tools to develop the people of Montgomery County. A few examples are The Annual Farm and Home Week Short Courses and The Farmers Conference, sponsored by Tuskegee Institute; The Annual John A. Andrews Medical Association’s Clinic (which attracted outstanding doctors and indigent patients), sponsored by Tuskegee Institute; The Annual Alabama 4-H Club Short Course for Boys and Girls, held at Tuskegee Institute; The Fat Stock Show and Sale, sponsored by The Alabama Agricultural Center Board and The Montgomery Chamber of Commerce for 4-H Club members and vocational students; The 4-H Club Poultry Chain, sponsored by the Sears Roebuck Foundation; and The 4-H Club Award Program, sponsored by The National 4-H Club Foundation.
She was also instrumental in locating homes in college communities in which students were welcome to enter into work-study relationships while attending college. Without this assistance, many Montgomery County students would have been denied exposure to higher education.
For her versatility and outstanding services to the people of Alabama, she was chosen “Home Demonstration Agent of The Year” by her peers and was presented this prestigious award in 1961 by The Association of Negro County and Home Demonstration Agents of Alabama.
The people of Montgomery County are the beneficiaries of a unique heritage and are better off because of the contributions made in education, human resources, and community development by Miss Annie Mae Boynton as their Home Demonstration Agent.
Chapel Plaque Inscription Number: 219
