Draft:First lady of Alabama

First lady of Alabama is the title given to the wife of the Governor of Alabama. As of 2024, Alabama has had 54 governors. Two have been women. Seven were widowed or unmarried and could appoint a relative as official state hostess. Felicia Steptoe Pickett remains the youngest first lady in Alabama history. She may have been 16 when she married governor Reuben Chapman who was 39 although discrepancies in that chronology have been noted. Patsy Riley wrote a book about 11 of the state's first ladies.


 * Mary Holman Freeman Bibb, wife of William Wyatt Bibb who was appointed governor of Alabama Territory in 1817 and continued in office after it became a state in 1819 until his death in 1820
 * Felicia Steptoe Pickett (1819–1870) wife of Reuben Chapman, served as first lady from 1847-1849
 * Georgena Jones wife of Thomas G. Jones who was governor from 1890-1894
 * Juliet Dixon wife of John Dixon, governor 1939-1943
 * Runy Ellis, governor Jim Folsom's sister
 * Jamelle Folsom (November 11, 1927 – November 30, 2012) wife of Jim Folsom who served as governor from 1947-1951 and from 1955-1959
 * Dixie Bibb Graves (July 26, 1882 – January 21, 1965) wife of Bibb Graves, went on to serve as a U.S. Senator, the first female U.S. senator from Alabama (appointed by her husband to succeed Hugo Black).
 * Alice Persons wife of Gordon Persons who served as governor from 1951-1955
 * Mary Jo Patterson wife of John Patterson who was governor from 1959-1963
 * Lurleen Wallace (September 19, 1926 – May 7, 1968), wife of George Wallace. She also served as governor, making him first gentleman.
 * Martha Farmer Brewer (October 26, 1928 – November 14, 2006) wife of Albert Brewer who was governor from 1968-1971
 * Cornelia Wallace (January 28, 1939 – January 8, 2009) wife of George Wallace First Lady 1971-1978
 * Lisa T. Wallace was the third wife of George Wallace
 * Bobbie Mae Mooney James wife of Fob James who was governor 1979–1983 as a Democrat and from 1995–1999 as a Republican
 * Helen née Chambers Hunt wife of H. Guy Hunt who was governor 1987-1993
 * Lori Allen Siegelman wife of Don Siegelman who was governor 1999-2003
 * Patsy Riley, author of Alabama's First Ladies and Their Governors, wife of Bob Riley who served as governor from 2003-2011
 * Dianne Bentley (born 1944) wife of Robert J. Bentley governor from 2011-2017

Since 2017 Kay Ivey has been governor of Alabama