Idella Jones Childs
Idella Jones Childs (June 21, 1903 – August 8, 1998) was an American educator, historian and civil rights activist. Childs worked as a teacher for 35 years in Perry County in Alabama. During the civil rights movement, her home was a meeting place for activists. She was the mother of Jean Childs Young, who later married Andrew Young who went on to become mayor of Atlanta. Childs worked as historian, helping to put two places in Alabama on the National Register of Historic Places. She also became the first black woman to sit on the city council in Marion. Childs was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2002. An award named after Childs is given out from the Alabama Historical Commission for the recognition of those who have contributed to the preservation of historic African American places. Biography Childs was born in Perry County in Alabama on June 21, 1903, and would live her entire life there. Childs attended Lincoln Normal School and earned her teacher's certificate there. She studied elementary education at Alabama State University. She married Norman Childs and together they had five children. She earned her degree long after her first child was born.