Sarah Green Jones Atkinson (October 14, 1860 – November 14, 1943) was an American educator. Atkinson was a native of Dinwiddie County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and was born into a family of educators. She and her husband, John Pryor Atkinson, donated land and timber for the construction of a high school in Dinwiddie County in 1911. The school, Sunnyside High School, went on to become the first eight-month rural school to gain accreditation in Virginia. As an educator Atkinson was also known for her support of the local 4-H Club and its students. She was also involved in the fight for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in Virginia, serving on a state committee under Governor

Andrew Jackson Montague Andrew Jackson Montague (October 3, 1862January 24, 1937; nickname "Jack") was a Virginia lawyer and American politician. He served as the 44th Governor of Virginia, from 1902 to 1906, and a Congressman from 1912 until his death in 1937. A Demo ...

which worked to convince him to allow women the right to vote. Atkinson died in Dinwiddie County, and was interred in the graveyard of Concord Presbyterian Church in Rawlings, in neighboring Brunswick County. Her name on the marker is given as "Sally". Atkinson was honored in 1986 by the erection of a historical marker by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Historic Resources; it is located in Dinwiddie County, near the town of McKenney.

References

1860 births 1943 deaths Educators from Virginia People from Dinwiddie County, Virginia 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators Suffragists from Virginia Activists from Virginia 19th-century American women educators 20th-century American women educators {{US-edu-bio-stub