Conkey Pate Whitehead

The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation was established in 1946 by Conkey Pate Whitehead. Mr. Whitehead established the Foundation as a memorial to his mother. Lettie Pate Whitehead was born in Bedford County, Virginia, in 1872, and was educated at private schools in Bedford and Lynchburg. In 1895, she married Joseph Whitehead, a young attorney, where they made their home in Chattanooga, TN, and had two sons. After Mr. Whitehead’s death in 1942, Mrs. Whitehead assumed responsibility of the family’s business affairs. She was a gracious and generous woman, who contributed to numerous charities in Georgia and Virginia to England and France. The primary purpose of the Foundation is the education of “poor and deserving Christian girls” who are residents of certain southeastern states. The foundation is a charity dedicated to the support of women in nine southeastern states, including: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Thousands of women receive financial assistance each year in individual amounts determined by the recipient institutions. Most scholarships go toward undergraduate higher education, with special interest in health education. A significant number of scholarships target the medical, nursing, and allied health fields.