HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – – – The Historic Huntsville Foundation and city leaders gathered in the Twickenham Historic District Sunday afternoon to dedicate a historic marker recognizing Alice Boarman Baldridge.

Baldridge broke new ground for women in Huntsville through her work as a suffragist, elected official, activist and attorney.

Before women could vote, Baldridge won a seat on the Madison County Board of Education in 1916. She was also instrumental in raising funds to build and operate Rosenwald Schools in Madison County.

She studied law at the age of 44 during a time when historians say most professions were closed to women, and later moved to New York and practiced law at a Wall Street firm for 35 years.

Baldridge retired in 1957 at the age of 83.

Alicia Anderson, Alice Boarman Baldridge’s great-granddaughter, said, “Granny was not only this serious, austere, successful, beautiful woman… she was our granny. My regret is that I never really got to meet her, but I enjoy hearing all the stories that my oldest brother and my other brother share.”

The marker has been placed at her former home at 703 Adams Street in Huntsville.

This is the fourth historic marker recognizing Huntsville women dedicated by the city and the city’s historic foundation.