Item Information
Title
Annie Brown Kennedy photo and bio
Source
Seth B. Hinshaw, Linda H. Gunter, and John L. Cheney. 1988. The North Carolina Electoral College: the people and the process behind the vote. Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.. North Carolina Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-CH
Rights
https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en
Type
still image
Identifier
https://exhibits.lib.unc.edu/items/show/6229
Text
Annie Brown Kennedy
(First Black Woman)
Annie Brown Kennedy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 13, 1924, to Mancy and Mary Louise Brown. She attended Booker T. Washington High School, then Spelman College, graduating in 1945 with an A.B. degree in economics. Six years later she earned her J.D. degree from Howard University School of Law.
Annie Kennedy become active in many Forsyth County organizations including Association of Women Attorneys, Winston Salem Altrusa Club, YWCA, NAACP, League of Women Voters, and United Way. She was a member of the County Morehead Scholarship Selection Committee; the Board of Visitors, UNC-Chapel Hill; the Winston-Salem Bicentennial Commission; the Winston-Salem Housing Foundation; the Legal Aid Council; and National Council of Negro Women.
Ms. Kennedy has been a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for four terms and is now on the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. She was President of the Democratic Women of Forsyth County, on the North Carolina Executive Committee, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. She served as the first black female Presidential Elector in North Carolina in 1976.
Honors have come deservedly to such a versatile woman. She was given the Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major for Justice Award by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1983. In 1984 she was cited for Distinguished Alumni Leadership by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education and was given the Community Service Award by the Winston-Salem Section of the National Council of Negro Women. She was given the Pioneer Black Legislator’s Award by the Coalition for Progressive Legislation in 1985. In 1986 she was given the Outstanding Achievement Award by the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys. And in 1987 she reviewed both the Meritorious Service Award from the United Negro College Fund and the Certificate of Special Honor from the Winston-Salem Chapter of National Women of Achievement, Inc. She has served her First Baptist Church on the Board of Trustees since 1974.
Annie Kennedy is President of the Forsyth County Bar Association, the only female to be elected as President, and the only black female ever elected to the North Carolina General Assembly where she chairs the Manufacturers and Labor Committee and is Vice Chair of several committees including the Appropriations Committee.
In 1950 she married Harold L. Kennedy, Jr. They have three children. She is a partner in the family law firm of Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, and Kennedy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
(First Black Woman)
Annie Brown Kennedy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 13, 1924, to Mancy and Mary Louise Brown. She attended Booker T. Washington High School, then Spelman College, graduating in 1945 with an A.B. degree in economics. Six years later she earned her J.D. degree from Howard University School of Law.
Annie Kennedy become active in many Forsyth County organizations including Association of Women Attorneys, Winston Salem Altrusa Club, YWCA, NAACP, League of Women Voters, and United Way. She was a member of the County Morehead Scholarship Selection Committee; the Board of Visitors, UNC-Chapel Hill; the Winston-Salem Bicentennial Commission; the Winston-Salem Housing Foundation; the Legal Aid Council; and National Council of Negro Women.
Ms. Kennedy has been a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for four terms and is now on the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee. She was President of the Democratic Women of Forsyth County, on the North Carolina Executive Committee, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. She served as the first black female Presidential Elector in North Carolina in 1976.
Honors have come deservedly to such a versatile woman. She was given the Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major for Justice Award by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1983. In 1984 she was cited for Distinguished Alumni Leadership by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education and was given the Community Service Award by the Winston-Salem Section of the National Council of Negro Women. She was given the Pioneer Black Legislator’s Award by the Coalition for Progressive Legislation in 1985. In 1986 she was given the Outstanding Achievement Award by the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys. And in 1987 she reviewed both the Meritorious Service Award from the United Negro College Fund and the Certificate of Special Honor from the Winston-Salem Chapter of National Women of Achievement, Inc. She has served her First Baptist Church on the Board of Trustees since 1974.
Annie Kennedy is President of the Forsyth County Bar Association, the only female to be elected as President, and the only black female ever elected to the North Carolina General Assembly where she chairs the Manufacturers and Labor Committee and is Vice Chair of several committees including the Appropriations Committee.
In 1950 she married Harold L. Kennedy, Jr. They have three children. She is a partner in the family law firm of Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, and Kennedy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.