For 118 years, Fort Valley State University - Georgia's historically black land-grant institution - has stood as a beacon of opportunity. Ladies First, Please: Celebrating first ladies who served with principals and presidents in the Valley 1895-2013 invites you to experience the stories of ten women who helped the school blossom into one of the great prides of the Peach State. In a tribute to the predecessors who paved the way for her tenure as a "First Lady" of "The Valley," Betty H. Rivers sheds light on the life and time of each woman who stood at the side of a FVSU leader. She reveals the numerous hats that Fort Valley State's First Ladies wore throughout their respective years in office: ambassador, executive confidante, lobbyist, community liaison, event planner, hostess, fundraiser, mentor, role model, and parent. Hattie Davison, Florence J. Hunt, Julia W. Bond, Katye M. Troup, Josephine L. Blanchet, Edwina P. Pettigrew, Mamie B. Burse, Jacquelyn P. Prater, Aama Nahuja, and Betty H. Rivers herself all lived and breathed the university's mission to be a light for the path of students seeking better lives through education. BETTY H. RIVERS served as Fort Valley State University's eighth First Lady during the presidency of her husband, Larry E. Rivers, from 2006 to 2013.
About the Author: BETTY JEAN HUBBARD RIVERS is a native of Twiggs County, Georgia. She attended Fort Valley State College, earning a degree in business education in 1973. After completing her undergraduate studies, she began her professional career in the president's office of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University in Tallahassee, where she worked as a secretary. She also entered the graduate program at Florida State University to pursue a degree in Vocational Education. In 1975 the City of Tallahassee hired her to serve as secretary to the director of the Employment Opportunity Office. FSU awarded her a Masters of Arts degree in Vocational Education in the same year. Four years later, she married Larry Eugene Rivers, a fellow graduate of Fort Valley State whom she had originally met in college. Rivers spent 30 years with the City of Tallahassee, finishing her career in 2006 as business services manager of the Tallahassee Regional Airport. Her retirement coincided with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents' decision to appoint her husband to serve as Fort Valley State University's eighth president. For the next seven years, First Lady Betty H. Rivers worked at President Larry E. Rivers' side to advance the university's mission locally and nationally. She and her husband are the proud parents of Larry Omar Rivers, an assistant professor of history at the University of West Georgia, and Linjé Eugene Rivers, a legal counsel for the Florida Department of Financial Services.