Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson

{{Short description|American educator (1860–1942)}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson | image = File:SusanMiltonAtkinson.tif | alt = | caption = Susan Milton Atkinson, in an 1896 publication. | office = [[First Ladies of Georgia (U.S. state)|First Lady of Georgia]] | term_label = In role | term_start = October 27, 1894 | term_end = October 29, 1898 | predecessor = Martha Northen | successor = Eugenia Candler | governor = [[William Yates Atkinson]] | birth_name = Susan Cobb Milton | birth_date = {{birth date text|1860}} | birth_place = [[Greenwood, Florida|Greenwood]], [[Florida]], U.S. | death_date = {{death year and age|1942|1860}} | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Educator | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | alma_mater = [[Lucy Cobb Institute]] | spouse = {{marriage|[[William Yates Atkinson]]|1880|1899|reason=died}} | children = 6 | relatives = [[John Milton (Florida politician)|John Milton]] {{small|(grandfather)}} }}

'''Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson''' (1860 — 1942) was an American educator who was influential in promoting education to women in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the wife of [[William Yates Atkinson]], the [[Governor of Georgia]] from 1894 to 1898, she used her position as the state [[First Lady]] to advocate for state funding for women to attend college.<ref name="GA Women">{{cite web|title=Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson|url=https://www.georgiawomen.org/susan-cobb-milton|date=March 1996|work=[[Georgia Women of Achievement]]|accessdate=August 27, 2020 |url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827195344/https://www.georgiawomen.org/susan-cobb-milton |archive-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref> After her time at Georgia College, she went into the insurance business.<ref name="GA Women"/> In her later life, Atkinson served as the [[Postmaster|postmistress]] in [[Newnan, Georgia|Newnan]]—a title bestowed upon her by [[Theodore Roosevelt|President Theodore Roosevelt]] himself.<ref name=Arnold />

== Early life and education == Susan was born in [[Greenwood, Florida]].<ref name=Lineage>{{cite journal|journal=Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution|year=1907|volume=24|title=Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson|page=43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JG4ZAQAAIAAJ&q=susan+cobb+milton+atkinson&pg=PA43|accessdate=3 January 2014}}</ref> She was the granddaughter of Florida governor [[John Milton (Florida politician)|John Milton]], so Susan was exposed at a young age to the life of politics.<ref name="GA Women" />

She attended the [[Lucy Cobb Institute]] for college, where she also met her husband.<ref name="GA Women" />

== Georgia College and State University == Susan Atkinson was encouraged by one of her friends, Julia Flisch, to help open another college for women in Georgia. In 1889, Atkinson created a petition for the state of Georgia to open a college, so her husband presented a bill to the House of Representatives that finally passed.<ref name=Arnold>{{cite book|last=Arnold|first=Edwin T.|title=What Virtue There is in Fire|year=2009|publisher=University of Georgia Press|location=Athens, GA|isbn=978-0820336169|page=[https://archive.org/details/whatvirtuetherei00arno_0/page/207 207]|url=https://archive.org/details/whatvirtuetherei00arno_0|url-access=registration}}</ref> After [[Milledgeville, Georgia|Milledgeville]] was selected as the site for the college, it was founded in 1890 as Georgia Normal and Industrial College. The school's name was later changed to Georgia State College for Women and then finally to [[Georgia College & State University]].<ref name="GA Women" /> When the college was founded, William was named Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Susan became the President of the Board of Visitors.<ref name="GA Women" />

== Personal life and legacy == Susan Cobb Milton married [[William Yates Atkinson]] in 1880. She was widowed when William died in 1899. The Atkinsons had six children together. One of their sons, William Yates Atkinson Jr., became a justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Georgia Normal and Industrial College honored the Atkinsons by naming a building in their honor.<ref name=Arnold /> Atkinson Hall is now the building for the School of Business at Georgia College.<ref name="GA Women" />

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{Georgia Women of Achievement}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb Milton Atkinson, Susan}} [[Category:1860 births]] [[Category:1942 deaths]] [[Category:People from Jackson County, Florida]] [[Category:First ladies and gentlemen of Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:19th-century American educators]] [[Category:Education in Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Georgia College & State University]] [[Category:Educators from Florida]] [[Category:19th-century American women educators]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) postmasters]]