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{{Short description|First Lady of Liberia (1914–2011)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}

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| birth_place = Monrovia, Liberia2011182df=y}}| death_place = | spouse = William Tubman (1948–1971; his death)| children = 1| occupation = }}Antoinette Louise Padmore Tubman (24 February 1914{{snds}}18 May 2011) was the wife of the Liberian politician William S. Tubman and the First Lady of Liberia from 1948 to 1971.

Biography

Antoinette Padmore was born in Monrovia on 24 February 1914.WEB,weblink Mrs. Antoinette Louise Tubman, Former First Lady of the Republic of Liberia, is dead, www.mofa.gov.lr, 14 February 2020, 14 March 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210314090955weblink">weblink dead, Her parents were James Stanley Padmore and Mary Louise Barclay-Padmore, who has both emigrated from Barbados.BOOK, Dunn, D. Elwood., Historical dictionary of Liberia : D. Elwood Dunn, Amos J. Beyan, Carl Patrick Burrowes., 2001, Scarecrow Press, Beyan, Amos Jones., Burrowes, Carl Patrick., 978-1-4616-5931-0, 2nd, Lanham, Md., 336, 860625596, Her mother died when she was young, as a result she was brought up by her aunt Elizabeth Barclay-Sherman. She was educated at Bromley Mission, an episcopal school, then moved to Paris to study fashion. On her return she opened the first school of fashion and modelling in Monrovia. She married William Tubman on 17 September 1948. She was his third wife.BOOK, Wreh, Tuan,weblink The love of liberty: the rule of President William V. S. Tubman in Liberia, 1944-1971, 1976, C. Hurst, 9780876632758, en, They had one daughter, Wilhemina Tubman-Tucker.

Work as First Lady

Tubman was First Lady of Liberia from her marriage in 1948 to the death of her husband in 1971. In the Executive Mansion she set up a museum with artefacts relating to her husband's presidency as well as previous ones. More significantly, Tubman used her influential role as First Lady raise funds and awareness for philanthropic and humanitarian causes, including: orphans, the homeless, the mentally ill. In August 1957, a new orphanage funded by the Antoinette Tubman Children's Welfare Foundation was opened in Virginia.BOOK,weblink 4, Liberia Today, 1956, Liberian Embassy in Washington, en, In 1958 she set up a charity dedicated to fund-raising for a new hospital for the mentally ill in Monrovia. She was president of the Social Services Association. She was noted for her involvement in political life.JOURNAL, Brooks, Angie E., 1968, Political Participation of Women in Africa South of the Sahara, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, en-US, 375, 1, 82–85, 10.1177/000271626837500112, 154658084, 0002-7162, After her husband's death in July 1971, his estimated fortune of $220 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=220000000|start_year=1971}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) made her one of the richest women in the world.BOOK,weblink Jet, 18 November 1971, Johnson Publishing Company, en, She established the William V S Tubman Memorial Museum on their estate, east of Monrovia in Totota, based on the collection she founded early in their marriage.BOOK,weblink Ebony, 1974, Johnson Publishing Company, en, As well as being First Lady, Tubman also ran two businesses: a motel and restaurant called Coocoo's Nest; a plantation and roasters called Wilmetco Coffee.She died on 18 May 2011. She was buried on 11 June 2011 at the United Methodist Church, Monrovia.WEB,weblink 'A Woman of Noble Character': Antoinette Tubman, Former First Lady, Buried :: FrontPageAfricaonline.com - All Things Africa 24/7, 2 February 2013, 14 February 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130202071116weblink">weblink 2 February 2013,

Legacy

(File:Liberia,_Africa_-_panoramio_(245).jpg|thumb|Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Monrovia)The sports stadium in Monrovia was named the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in her honor.

Awards

1956 - Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

References

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