Dorothy Felton ( ''née'' Wood; March 1, 1929 – February 19, 2008) was an American politician who was the first Republican woman elected to the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

. She was elected to represent District 43 in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

in 1974, and continued to do so until retiring in 2000.

Biography

Felton was born Dorothy Jean Wood in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, Oklahoma on March 1, 1929, to Ima Sue Chronister and George F. Wood. After graduating from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

in 1950 she worked as a journalist for the ''

Tulsa Tribune The ''Tulsa Tribune'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1919 to 1992. Owned and run by three generations of the Jones family, the ''Tribune'' closed in 1992 after the termination of its joint operating agreement ...

''. She married Jethro Jerome Felton Jr. in 1953, and they later moved to the Atlanta metro area. She was elected to the

in 1974, serving thirteen terms before retiring after the 2000 legislative session. Her district, District 43, was in

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and a suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's 7th most populous city. It is the site of several corporate headquar ...

, and during her time in the House she focused mainly on advocating for a referendum allowing residents of Sandy Springs to vote on whether the area should become an incorporated

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. She died on February 19, 2008. The

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

between I-285 and Roswell Road in Sandy Springs is named in her honor.

References

1929 births 2008 deaths Women state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Republican Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives People from Sandy Springs, Georgia Politicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Journalists from Oklahoma University of Arkansas alumni 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Georgia General Assembly 20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly {{GeorgiaUS-politician-stub