Celebrating 28 Days of Black Excellence. Past and Present: Evelyn Turner-Pugh

Throughout the month of February, The Courier Eco Latino will honor Black History Month by spotlighting one local African American leader—past or present—each day. The series will feature trailblazers, educators, entrepreneurs, artists, advocates, and unsung heroes whose contributions have helped shape the soul, strength, and future of our community.

These are stories that may not always make headlines, but make a difference every day. From classrooms to boardrooms, from pulpits to protest lines, from small businesses to grassroots movements, each honoree reflects resilience, leadership, and service rooted right here at home.

Evelyn Turner-Pugh, a pioneering public servant whose decades of leadership reshaped neighborhoods, expanded access to housing and recreation, and broke barriers for the city of Columbus, Ga.

A lifelong resident of Columbus, Turner-Pugh, June 23, 1950 - July 10, 2021, was a graduate of Carver High School and Columbus State University. Before entering elected office, she built a distinguished private-sector career, working 20 years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and 15 years with SunTrust Bank, where she earned a reputation as a skilled financial manager.

Turner-Pugh’s commitment to public service began early. As a teenager in 1968, she went door-to-door in her East Carver Heights neighborhood distributing campaign literature for a city council candidate. Two decades later, in 1988, she won that same council seat, beginning a historic tenure that would span more than 30 years.

She served the citizens of her district from 1988 until her retirement on Oct. 8, 2019, becoming the longest-serving city councilor in Columbus history. During that time, she also made history as the city’s first female mayor pro tem, a role she held for 14 years, including under former Mayor Teresa Tomlinson.

Despite being afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, Turner-Pugh continued to work tirelessly for her community. Colleagues and residents alike noted that her illness never diminished her presence or her resolve. She often said her most meaningful accomplishments were the investments she helped secure for Parks and Recreation, believing safe, accessible public spaces were essential to community health and youth development.

Her public service résumé was expansive. Early in her career, she worked on Bob Wright’s successful city council campaign in the 1970s and later worked for funeral home owner and civil rights leader George Ford. As an elected official, she transformed her childhood home area of East Carver Heights through sustained advocacy for housing stability, infrastructure improvements and neighborhood revitalization.

A strong believer in what she called “volunteer activism,” Turner-Pugh devoted countless hours to education, the arts, health care and, most notably, housing. As chair of what is now Columbus’ NeighborWorks organization, she leveraged her banking expertise to bring local financial institutions together to improve housing opportunities in struggling neighborhoods.

“That effort required buy-in from the banking CEOs, and we got that,” she said in a previous interview. “A lot of the banks here went into partnership with NeighborWorks to come up with different programs. I have a passion for helping people who don’t know they have an avenue open to them.”

In 2007, Turner-Pugh was named one of Georgia’s top public servants by Georgia Trend magazine, receiving the Excellence in Public Service Award presented by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government in partnership with the magazine. The honor recognizes individuals who excel across all aspects of public service while navigating high expectations and limited resources.

Her inspiration for civic engagement, she often said, came from long conversations with her uncle, a high school government teacher, who helped her understand how government could be used to improve the lives of the poor. “Since then,” she said, “I always wanted to give back to this community.”

At the conclusion of her retirement announcement in 2019, Turner-Pugh offered a simple but resonant farewell: “This is history, and I’m signing off.”

For generations of Columbus residents, Evelyn Wright Turner-Pugh’s legacy endures—in neighborhoods strengthened, opportunities expanded, and barriers broken by a woman who dedicated her life to service, even in the face of personal illness.