Awards

Bicentennial Medal - 2019

College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award - 1982

About Elizabeth E. Bridgwaters

Born into the prominent Eagleson family in Bloomington, Elizabeth Eagleson Bridgwaters was a civic leader in the local African American community. Bridgwaters was the daughter of Preston Bridgwaters, the second African American to graduate from Indiana University. She graduated from Indiana University in 1930 and later reared nine children. Eagleson was the first African American elected official in Monroe County and served on the Monroe County School Board. She was also instrumental in the establishment of the Aurora Alternative High School (1995-2010) in Bloomington.

She was inducted into the Monroe County Hall of Fame for her civic work in the African-American community in 1999, and has a collection named for her in the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Bridgwaters passed away at the age of 90 in 1999.