Elna Spaulding

[1][4] Bridgeforth attended Trinity High School in Athens, Alabama, graduating in 1926, and earned the Bachelor of Music degree from Talladega College in 1930.

[1] In September 1968, Spaulding founded Women-in-Action for the Prevention of Violence and its Causes, a nonprofit, inter-racial organization in Durham.

[8] The award's second recipient was Spaulding's fellow Durham county commissioner Josephine Dobbs Clement.

[5][12] Spaulding was re-elected for four additional two-year terms to the Board of Commissioners, serving until her retirement in 1984.

[13] Duke University honored Spaulding with the William C. Friday Award in Moral Leadership in 2001.