Like many of the early firsts for women, Lettie Pate Whitehead’s entry into her line of work followed the death of her husband, with whom she had partnered to build a bottling company.
While her husband was alive, he was the face of their business, partnering with Coca-Cola to bottle their trademark beverage, then popular as a fountain drink. When he suddenly died, Whitehead, just 34, took charge of the company.
Over the course of the next 28 years, she grew the operation from a sizable 80 plants to more than 1,000, and eventually sold the operation to the Coca-Cola company in a stock deal that landed her on the company’s board, marking a milestone for female corporate leadership at a major company in the United States. She would serve there for two decades.
A foundation set up in her honor focuses on education and scholarships for women, as well as elderly care.
— Niv Elis
photo: Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation