MEMPHIS — An honorary street sign was unveiled in Memphis on May 27 in front of the home where Gladys Ann Hunter Sawyer was raised. The sign marks Decatur Street near Jackson Avenue and honors Sawyer, a community leader who died in 2022.

Memphis City Councilwoman Pearl Eva Walker unveiled the sign during a ceremony attended by family and community members. Gladys Ann Hunter Sawyer was the mother of Michael Hooks Jr., a former Shelby County commissioner, and Tami Sawyer, General Sessions Court Clerk.

"I was honored and humbled," Michael Hooks Jr. said, "and reminded how refreshing it was for someone like her to be commemorated, not for just popularity or notoriety but for being a quiet, consistent, productive member of her community."

Tami Sawyer wrote on Facebook that her mother's life was one of service and that she raised her children to live the same. Gladys Ann Hunter Sawyer graduated from DuSable High School in Chicago, attended Memphis State University, and became the first Miss Black Memphis State. She was also part of the Memphis State 109, a group of student activists who challenged segregation and discrimination on campus.

Sawyer later worked in marketing and project management and founded HGF Inc., a Memphis-based firm serving government and nonprofit clients. She served on the boards of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis and Girls Inc. of Memphis and was among the founders of Hattiloo Theatre’s Whitman Sisters.

At the ceremony, Andrew Sawyer Jr. asked those gathered to remember Gladys Ann Hunter Sawyer by voting. Michael Hooks Jr. relayed his stepfather’s message: "The simple thing my stepfather asked was, ‘In the legacy, let’s not let this be a sign, a physical sign. Let’s continue to live in the spirit of Gladys Ann Sawyer.’ But at minimum, exercising our right to vote." Gladys Ann Hunter Sawyer was an avid voter with her own civil rights history.