Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation announces Grant

The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation has announced their intent to award a grant in the amount of $118,000  to the University to fund undergraduate nursing student scholarships during the 2022-23 academic year.  The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation was created by Conkey Pate Whitehead, Mrs. Whitehead’s youngest son, in honor of his mother.  The Foundation was chartered in 1946, is a public charity, and funds scholarships to support the education of female students and the care of elderly women in nine Southeastern states. The Foundation maintains a special interest in health education.  Lettie Pate Whitehead was an extraordinary philanthropist and businesswoman.  In 1894, she married Joseph Brown Whitehead, a young attorney from Mississippi. The Whiteheads made their home in Tennessee.  In 1899, Mr. Whitehead and an associate dreamed up the “preposterous idea” of bottling Coca-Cola. They secured an exclusive contract to bottle and sell Coca-Cola in most of the United States and at that time the family moved to Atlanta. When Mr. Whitehead died in 1906, Lettie Pate took over her husband’s bottling business and real estate interests, guiding both to great success.  She became one of the first female directors of any major American corporation when she was appointed to the board of Coca-Cola Company in 1934, and served in that role for almost 20 years.  Lettie Pate donated generously to many charities during her lifetime.