Lori Johnson-Vegas, 2023 National Mother of the Year®
The first Mother of the Year® award was presented in 1935 under the leadership of Sara Delano Roosevelt, Honorary Chairman of the American Mothers Committee of the Golden Rule Foundation. The award was presented to Lucy Keen Johnson from Georgia, a widowed mother of five and Dean of Women at Wesleyan College. The recognition of an “admirable” mother was made to provide an inspiration to the nation who would represent a mother’s unconditional love, inner strength, and courage.
Every year since, American Mothers, Inc. has named a Mother of the Year® from nominees across the 50 states, District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for this important honor. Mother of the Year® is a registered trademark of American Mothers, Inc.
Many outstanding individuals throughout America have served as officers, leaders, supporters and award recipients of this organization such as Sarah Delano Roosevelt, J.C. Penney, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, Norman Vincent Peale, Congresswoman Lindy Boggs, Phyllis Marriott and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Nominations for Mother of the Year® are open from Mothers Day thru September 15th each year.
Past National Mothers of the Year®
2020 Dr. LaTarsha Holden, Georgia
2019 Dr. Renae Reinardy, North Dakota
2017 Rebecca Latham, New Mexico
2011 Ernestine Allen, District of Columbia
2010 Dianne Dain Callister, California
2009 Betty Jean Ulmer McGregor, South Carolina
2008 Jo Ellen Blackwood, West Virginia
2007 Ileen Loosle Barlow, Oregon
2006 Laurie Richardson, Nevada
2005 Helen Bean, Oregon
2004 Mary Connelly Kegelman, Delaware
2003 Mervlyn Keapo Swain Kitashima, Hawaii
2002 Rosalie Fuscaldo Gaziano, West Virginia
2001 Jean “Dawn” Morris, South Dakota
2000 Dorothy E. Barta, Texas
1999 Gail Ford Williamson, California
1998 Diane Stirland Matthews, Arizona
1997 Deen Day Smith, Georgia
1996 Carolyn Shumway, Hawaii
1995 Barbara Thompson, Oklahoma
1994 Corrine “Lindy” Boggs, District of Columbia*
1993 Ruby Washington, Nebraska
1991 Joan R. Burney, Nebraska
1990 Nadine M. Matus, Utah
1989 Nancy Dinwiddie Hawk, South Carolina*
1988 Thelma Loss Kouzes, Virginia
1987 Rita Whalen McCaffrey, Vermont
1986 Martha Burke, Montana*
1985 Louise Monaco Cimino, Nebraska
1984 Patricia Kane Hamilton, Georgia
1983 Clemmie Webber, South Carolina*
1982 Helen Marie Burnstad Thompson, Idaho*
1981 Henrietta Jean Wombles Crouch, Kansas
1980 Betty Carol Leggett Lieder, Iowa
1979 Frances Davis Burtenshaw, Utah
1978 Ellen Edens McCall, Tennessee
1977 Gloria Berry Langdon, Oklahoma*
1976 Maxine Carnett Grindstaff, New Mexico
1975 Josephine Wainman Burson, Tennessee
1974 Phyllis Brown Marriott, District of Columbia*
1974 Golda Meir, World Mother, Israel*
1973 Ruth Youngdahl Nelson, Minnesota*
1972 Esther Hunt Moore, North Carolina
1971 Betty Anthony Zahn, Oklahoma*
1970 Dorothy Lee Wilson, Tennessee*
1969 E. Peterson LeTourneau, Texas*
1968 Elisabeth Grossman Bodine, North Dakota*
1967 Minnie Knoop Guenther, Arizona*
1965 Lorena Chipman Fletcher, Utah*
1964 Cora Hjertaa Stavig, South Dakota*
1963 Olga Pearson Engdahl, Nebraska
1962 Clara Spoat Glen, World Mother, Ohio*
1962 Mary Celesta Weatherly, Alabama*
1961 Louise Giddings Currey, Tennessee*
1960 Emerald Barman Arbogast, California
1959 Jeannie Loitman Barron, Massachusetts*
1958 Mary Roper Coker, South Carolina*
1957 Hazel Hempel Able, Nebraska*
1956 Jane Maxwell Pritchard, Michigan*
1955 Lavina Christensen Fugal, Utah*
1954 Love McDuffie Tolbert, Georgia*
1953 Ethlyn Weisgarver Bott, Illinois*
1951 Mary Martin Sloop, North Carolina*
1950 Elizabeth Roe Cloud, Oregon*
1949 Pearl Owens Grills, Texas*
1948 Helen Gartside Hines, Illinois*
1947 Janette Stevenson Murray, Iowa*
1946 Emma Clarissa Clemont, Kentucky*
1945 Georgiana Farr Sibley, New York*
1944 Harriet Duff Phillips, Pennsylvania*
1943 Mary Dabney Thompson, Ohio*
1942 Elizabeth Vize Berry, North Carolina*
1941 Dena Shelby Diehl, Kentucky*
1940 Edith Graham Mayo, Minnesota*
1939 Otelia Katherine Compton, Ohio*
1938 Grace Noll Crowell, Texas*
1937 Harriette Flora Gray, Nebraska*
1936 Frances Elenore Smith, California*
1935 Lucy Keen Johnson, Georgia*
A complete listing of the official 2018 State Mothers of the Year can be found here.
A complete listing of the official 2017 State Mothers of the Year can be found here.
Looking for past honorees? American Mothers has chronicled the past 80 years of women recognized by the organization. Contact us at info@americanmothers.org if you are searching information on a specific past honoree. Please provide as much information as possible including the year, award, and name of the recipient in your email.