Jane W. Wilson, Little-Known Victim of Domestic Violence, Honored With $1M Gift to UGA Law
Jane W. Wilson died in 1976, shot and killed by her second husband of only three days in front of her two young children, then ages 8 and 10. A law clinic and a fellowship will now bear her name.
August 08, 2019 at 05:45 PM
3 minute read
An anonymous donor has given $1 million to the University of Georgia School of Law in hopes of helping heal the pain of domestic violence.
Without sharing the donor’s identity, the law school did reveal the name of the woman who inspired the gift: Jane W. Wilson.
She died in 1976, shot and killed by her second husband of only three days in front of her two young children, then ages 8 and 10. She was in her early 30s. She lived and died in rural North Georgia, near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. And that is all the information available about her, according to Heidi Murphy, the law school’s director of communications and public relations.
Her name does not even show up in a Google search. But it will now show up in the names of a law clinic and a fellowship meant to help people like her.
The law school’s Family Justice Clinic, which opened in 1998 under the name Family Violence Clinic, will now operate under the name the Jane W. Wilson Family Justice Clinic, Murphy said in an announcement Thursday. The clinic provides survivors of domestic violence in Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties with direct representation, as well as legal and extra-legal support free of charge. Also thanks to the anonymous donor, the clinic will now employ a postgraduate fellow to assist the current director in managing “litigation on behalf of victims of intimate partner violence and abuse,” Murphy said.
This donation also will fund the Jane W. Wilson Distinguished Law Fellowship, a prestigious full-tuition-plus award “to an academically accomplished student with an interest in serving victims of domestic violence and other family justice issues,” Murphy said.
“We will work hard to honor the memory of Mrs. Wilson and help those affected by domestic violence,” law school Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge said in announcing the gift. “This donation will fund and expand essential legal work in a field that is often not discussed until something horrific occurs. This gift will help provide tomorrow’s legal leaders the knowledge, experience and resources to combat family violence.”
Murphy said the donor hopes to help “others similarly situated—in particular, victims and families who often find neither help nor hope.” The intention is to place an emphasis on “avoiding domestic violence and its consequences” for families through education and resources, including “legal representation so as to provide both meaningful assistance and precious hope to victims and their families.”
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