Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright

{{Short description|American conservationist, educator and animal activist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright | image =  | alt =  | caption = | birth_name = Jean Elizabeth Geiger<ref name="ac-geiger-marriage"/> | birth_date = 1924 | birth_place = [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]<br/>United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|03|04|1924}} | death_place = [[Cobb County, Georgia|Cobb County]], Georgia, United States | alma_mater = [[Washington Seminary (Atlanta)|Washington Seminary]] (1942)<ref name="lhb-archives">{{cite web |title=Lewis H. Beck Archives: Washington Seminary (1878-1953) Holdings |url=https://westminsterschools.libguides.com/beckarchives/washingtonseminary |website=The Westminster Schools |access-date=15 December 2020 |date=12 November 2020 |quote=1.34: Jean Geiger Wright Papers Class of 1942.}}</ref> | other_names = | occupation = [[Conservation movement|Conservationist]], [[educator]], [[Animal rights|animal activist]] | years_active = | known_for = Jean and Elwood Wright Environmental Education Center | notable_works = }} '''Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright''' (1924 – March 4, 2002) was an American [[Conservation movement|conservationist]], [[educator]], and [[Animal rights|animal activist]].<ref name="gwa-wright-2020">{{cite web |title=Jean Elisabeth Geiger Wright |url=https://www.georgiawomen.org/wright-geiger-elizabeth-jean |website=Georgia Women of Achievement |access-date=15 December 2020 |date=2020}}</ref> After beginning with her family's own house and {{convert|19|acre|ha}}<ref name="ecn-parker-2019"/> farm property in [[Cobb County, Georgia|Cobb County]], Wright worked to restore multiple plots of land in Pickens and Union Counties. Her former property was purchased by Cobb County in 2003 for $650,000, far below market price, and today operates as the environmental education conservation, the Jean and Elwood Wright Environmental Education Center.<ref name="ajc-sager-wright-center"/>

==Early years== Jean Elizabeth Geiger was born in [[Atlanta]], Georgia in 1924 to Mr. and Mrs. Lester Henry Geiger. She graduated from [[Washington Seminary (Atlanta)|Washington Seminary]] in 1942<ref name="lhb-archives"/> and worked for a time at the [[Wachovia#Wachovia|First National Bank]].<ref name="ac-geiger-marriage"/>

==Conservationism== In addition to restoring her own property in Cobb County, Wright worked with the [[Georgia Department of Natural Resources]] on its Weekend for Wildlife (WFW) project, which included annual fundraisers on [[Sea Island, Georgia|Sea Island]]; the [[Environmental Resources Network]] (TERN); the [[Mountain Conservation Trust of Georgia]] (MCGTA); the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS); the [[Nature Conservancy]]; and the [[Southeast Land Preservation Trust]], where she served as a director.

After the Wrights' deaths and the county took over ownership of their property, their house was converted to classroom space. The Wright Center was officially declared a wildlife sanctuary by the [[Atlanta Audubon Society]] in early 2019<ref name="ecn-parker-2019">{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Wendy |title=East Cobb's Wright Environmental Education Center certified as wildlife sanctuary |url=http://eastcobbnews.com/east-cobbs-wright-center-certified-as-wildlife-sanctuary/ |access-date=15 December 2020 |work=East Cobb News |date=12 April 2019}}</ref> and features nearly two miles of trails.<ref name="mgv-wright">{{cite web |title=Wright Environmental Education Center |url=https://www.cobbmastergardeners.com/project/wright-environmental-education-center/ |website=Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County |access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref>

==Animal advocacy== Wright was a central figure in working to pass two [[bond referendum]]s, in 1978 and 1992, to expand existing animal shelter facilities. She also worked with the [[Humane Society]] to bolster adoption rates, co-established the [[Homeless Pet Foundation]], and lobbied the [[Georgia General Assembly]] to pass animal protection legislation. Wright became a member of the [[Cobb County Animal Control Board]] in 1987, and served as director of special projects for the Humane Society of Cobb County in the 1990s.

After her children grew up, Wright fostered dozens of dogs and puppies, to the extent she was known as the "Puppy Lady".<ref name="ajc-sherrer-1997">{{cite news |last1=Sherrer |first1=Brantley |title=They Call It Puppy Love |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=7 August 1997 |page=J1}}</ref>

==Personal life== Jean Geiger married Ernest Elwood Wright on November{{nbsp}}10, 1946;<ref name="ac-geiger-marriage">{{cite news |title=Miss Jean Geiger To Wed on Nov. 10 |work=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |date=27 October 1946}}</ref> the couple had three children, daughters Kris and Kathy and son Robert ("Bob"<ref name="mdj-2020-bob">{{cite news |last1=Hartwell |first1=Thomas |title=Jean Wright is first Cobb County resident to be inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame |url=https://www.mdjonline.com/mdj-wright-jpg/image_c6ac3370-2e51-11ea-99e0-778a3af88a72.html |work=Marietta Daily Journal |date=3 January 2020 |quote=Former Cobb County Commissioner Thea Powell; Bob Wright, Jean Wright’s son; and Judy Beard, master gardener project coordinator at the Jean & Elwood Wright Environmental Education Center, inspect a frog pond at the center in east Cobb.}}</ref>).<ref name="wright-obit-ajc">{{cite news |title=Obituaries - Wright |publisher=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |page=F5 |date=7 March 2002}}</ref> In the late 1940s the family purchased a house and land in [[Cobb County, Georgia|Cobb County]], which Wright worked for decades to restore to its natural state, seeking out native plants to install.<ref name="ajc-sager-wright-center">{{cite news |last1=Sager |first1=Brenden |title=Changing the Landscape to Resemble Yesteryear is the Wright Way |work=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=8 July 2004 |page=JF1}}</ref>

Wright died on March 4, 2002.<ref name="wright-obit-ajc"/>

==Legacy== The Jean and Elwood Wright Environmental Education Center, commonly called the Wright Center, is named after Wright and her husband.

In 2020, Wright was added to the [[Georgia Women of Achievement]] Hall of Fame.<ref name="gwa-wright-2020"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright}} [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2002 deaths]] [[Category:Activists from Atlanta]] [[Category:Educators from Atlanta]] [[Category:American educators]] [[Category:The Westminster Schools alumni]]