Webb 1923–1992

Although she never had an opportunity to serve, Webb became the first African-American woman in the North Carolina General Assembly in 1972 after her appointment by Gov. Robert W. Scott. She served as Chairman of Minority Affairs for the North Carolina State Democratic Executive Committee, delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1976, and president of Democratic Women of North Carolina. She Spoke at Bennett College in Greensboro at the Black Hall Assembly for a forum on freedom. Born in Alabama, Webb was the first woman to graduate from the Tuskegee Institute School of Veterinary Medicine. Webb taught biology and mathematics at North Carolina A&T College, and then went on to teach anatomy and coordinate the laboratory animal science program at North Carolina State University.

Annie Brown Kennedy

Kennedywas only the second African American woman licensed to practice law in the state (1954) and the first ever to serve in the General Assembly. (Alfreda Johnson Webb was appointed but never served.) In 1979, Kennedy was selected by the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Forsyth County to fill a vacated term in the House, and subsequently appointed to that position by Gov. Jim Hunt. Kennedy unsuccessfully sought election to the seat in the 1980 General election. In 1982, however, she won the first of six consecutive terms in the House, where her focus was the status and welfare of families, women, and African Americans, among other issues. Kennedy chose not to seek reelection in 1994 and returned to the practice of law in a family-run