Janet Paulk papers

A grassroots activist at heart, Janet Paulk is passionate about a variety of social, political and gender issues. Born in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1932, Paulk was the daughter and grandaughter of Presbyterian ministers. Educated in music theory and piano at Maryville College in Tennessee, and business at Georgia State University, Dekalb Technical School and Emory University's School of Business Administration, Paulk began working for the Emory University Library Administration in 1975. She continued to serve the libraries at Emory for 23 years, most recently as human resources manager. During her tenure there, she became an outspoken advocate for the preservation of women's history. She was also active in national and local library associations. She retired from Emory in 1998.

Throughout her career, Paulk served many women-centered political and social organizations. She was treasurer and executive committee member of ERA Georgia, Inc. (1980-1982), treasurer and executive board member of the Georgia Women's Political Caucus (1982-1984), and a member of the Women's Studies Committee at the University Center of Georgia (1984-1988). Other affiliations include the Southeastern and National Women's Studies Associations.

Paulk has received many honors and awards, including special recognition from the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, for her involvement there in the Civil Rights Movement in 1968. She also received numerous appointments by the President of Emory University, specifically a charter membership on the President's Commission on the Status of Women (1976-1979) and two appointments to the University Affirmative Action Appeal Committee (1984, 1990). Today Paulk is active in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta and resides in Decatur.