{"word_count": 153, "character_count": 1097}
was Alabama's first woman lawyer and a pioneering political activist and archivist. ..... She joined women's historical, genealogical, and cultural societies. An ardent suffragist, Kelly joined the Birmingham Equal Suffrage Association and participated in its campaign to give women the right to vote, serving on the executive council and the policy-making board.In 1943 Kelly accepted Alabama Department of Archives and History  (ADAH) director Marie Bankhead Owen' s offer of the combined post of acquisitions agent, editor of the Alabama Historical Quarterly, and inspector of county records. In addition, Kelly authored legislation that gave ADAH authority over public records. Retiring in 1956, she continued to care for ailing family members and took up genealogy. Kelly died on April 2, 1973, and was buried in Birmingham's Hillside Cemetery. A devout Baptist, she donated her personal collection of genealogies, local histories, maps and other items to the Special Collections Department of the Samford University  Library. "Link:http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1106