Seven women and one organization were inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame on Thursday.
Former Deputy Director of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Sandra Keiser Edwards, Chairman of Eagle Bank & Trust Company Cathy Hastings Owen, former Lake City Mayor Pat Steele Qualls, longtime civil activist Nan Snow and retired Judge Joyce Williams Warren are the 2023 contemporary inductees.
The University of Arkansas Women’s Giving Circle, a philanthropic organization that combines resources to fund research and projects that enrich the lives of women in Arkansas, received the group inductee award. Mathematician Dorothy McFadden Hoover and civil rights activist Adolphine Fletcher Terry are this year's historical inductees.
Judge Warren, who received the honor in recognition of her service to Arkansas juvenile court cases throughout her career, used her acceptance speech to encourage the community to care for one another.
"As human beings we cannot navigate this life alone," Warren said. "We all need help in some way at some point in our life. We need to show more love, kindness, decency, and respect to others, especially to those who don't look like us, who don't live where we live, who don't talk like us, don't think like us, and don't smell like us."
Warren and the other inductees join over 50 other women and organizations that have been inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame since its creation in 2015.
