Above: Judge Sally Greenhaw receives an honor at the 2022 Alabama Colloquium in Montgomery.
January 8, 2026 — The Alabama Humanities Alliance is mourning the loss of one of its longtime friends and most ardent supporters, the Hon. Sally M. Greenhaw, who passed away over the holidays at age 83.
Before she became a member of Alabama Humanities’ Board of Directors, Judge Greenhaw opened doors for women in state government and the judiciary. After graduating from the University of Alabama and Cumberland School of Law, she became the first female assistant attorney general in Alabama. Judge Greenhaw would go on to become the first woman elected as a Montgomery County district court judge, too. Later, she was elected (and long reelected) as a circuit court judge. Judge Greenhaw also served in countless volunteer and leadership positions, including with the Alabama Council on Substance Abuse, Family Guidance Center, Leadership Montgomery, and Leadership Alabama.
Of course, those here at AHA cherish her unfailing support of the humanities, and her belief in the power of the humanities to enlighten and enliven Alabama. Judge Greenhaw provided leadership during a key period of growth and evolution for AHA, and she became one of AHA’s most steadfast donors, making key programs and events possible statewide, such as our now-annual Alabama Colloquium.
“Judge Greenhaw was a champion for the humanities, and I was honored to serve on the board of the Alabama Humanities Alliance with her for the better part of a decade,” says Trey Granger, a past chair for AHA and the Clerk of Court for the United States Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
“We developed a close bond during our tenure and shared many laughs and swapped stories, most of them Montgomery-based, when we were together for meetings. Judge Greenhaw’s quick dry wit was her trademark and her passion for the arts and humanities serves as an example to all of us. Thanks be to God for, and long live, Sally Greenhaw.”
Beyond the court
AHA’s staff and Board members had the pleasure to know Judge Greenhaw long before her own Board service (2014-2021). Her husband Wayne was a Board member prior to Sally and those who knew them treasured knowing them as a couple.
The Hon. Myron H. Thompson was one of those who got to know the Greenhaws well through their careers in the judiciary. Judge Thompson is United States District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama and an Alabama Humanities Fellow.
“Judge Greenhaw was one of a kind,” Thompson says. “She and Wayne lived life in a beautiful way that championed all that is good in this world. They completed each other, and those of us who called them friends were enriched to have been in their circle. Our court took Sally’s oral history a few years back and I am delighted that we have a window into the wonderful world of Sally and Wayne, and that it will be shared with future generations of Alabamians.”
“Wayne and Sally had a great commitment to making Alabama a better place for all our citizens,” agrees Reggie Hamner, a member of AHA’s Board with Sally. “Alabama Humanities was a prime vehicle and a beneficiary of their talents. Sally was a trailblazer in being elected one of the first female trial judges in Alabama, and she and Wayne were a team for the betterment of Alabama through the aspirations of the humanities.”
As so many know, Wayne was a prolific and powerful writer who won numerous awards for his books, including the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer. After his passing in 2011, Alabama Humanities established the Wayne Greenhaw Service to the Humanities Award. The honor recognizes individuals who have made substantive contributions to the work and mission of the Alabama Humanities Alliance, and in service of the public humanities generally in Alabama.
Sally received the honor in 2022 during our Alabama Colloquium in Montgomery, when AHA also honored Bryan Stevenson and the late John Lewis as Alabama Humanities Fellows.
In her brief and typically humble remarks, Judge Greenhaw shared: “Just to be on the same program honoring John Lewis and Bryan Stevenson, that in itself is an honor. These two gentlemen embody not only the best of what the humanities are, but what the humanities can be.”
AHA is forever grateful for the influence of both Sally and Wayne on our work, and we smile knowing that they are reunited once again.
To learn more about Sally and Wayne, watch the video referenced by Judge Thompson — an oral history of the Greenhaws’ lives and legacies, produced by the U.S. District Court’s Middle District of Alabama.
Participants came from major cities and university towns, as well as communities like Eutaw and Faunsdale, Eufaula and Warrior Stand, Gadsden, Harpersville, Spanish Fort, and more. They represented groups engaged in oral history projects; genealogy efforts among Black and White descendants of former plantations; philanthropic community programs; explorations of indigenous, rural, holocaust, and Confederate histories; and much more.
The convening’s agenda included a panel conversation, a film screening, and a talk by Edwin C. Bridges, Ph.D., director emeritus of the Alabama Department of Archives & History. But perhaps the most valuable part of the day was the chance for attendees to simply share with each other their inspired ideas, common challenges, and new connections.
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