Susie Abernathy

Susie Abernathy was born on September 23, 1929. Her father was William L. Abernathy who was a farmer and deacon and her mother was Louivery Abernathy who was a homemaker. Throughout her life, she maintained contact with the Civil Rights Movement due to being the sister of civil rights leader Reverend Ralph Abernathy. Her brother was a close advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and formed various groups such as the Montgomery Improvement Association and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was the second youngest of her sisters and brothers. She attended Hope Webb Elementary and Linden Academy for high school. She received her bachelors at Alabama State University and a Master’s in Education at Tuskegee Institute, which is now known as Tuskegee University. Upon graduation from Alabama State University, she began her career as a teacher in Sweet Water, Alabama, which is in Marengo County. She married a cow farmer named Wilmer Dale Hildred in 1970 in Selma, AL. Together, they had a child named Wilmer Dale Junior. Later in life, she was a member of the Marengo County Democratic Party. Even though Ralph has passed, she continues to speak highly of her brother’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.