Annie Brown Kennedy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Annie Brown Kennedy | |
|---|---|
| Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 66th district | |
| In office January 1, 1983 – January 1, 1995 | |
| Succeeded by | Larry W. Womble |
| Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from the 29th district | |
| In office November 1979 – January 1, 1981 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 13, 1924 |
| Died | January 17, 2023 (aged 98) |
| Party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Howard University School of Law, Spelman College |
| Occupation | Politician, attorney |
Annie Brown Kennedy (October 13, 1924 – January 17, 2023) was an American politician and attorney who was the first black woman to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly. Appointed to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1979, she was elected in 1982 and served through 1994.
Kennedy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 13, 1924, the oldest of four children of Reverend Mancy Brown and Mary Louise Sheats Brown. She received her bachelor's degree in economics from Spelman College in 1945 and her Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law in 1951.[1][2]
After living briefly in New York, Kennedy accompanied her husband to his hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in 1953. She passed the bar that same year and became the second black woman in state history, and the second woman in Forsyth County, to practice law. She was a sole practitioner licensed to practice in Georgia and North Carolina and before federal courts, including the US Supreme Court.[3][1] Kennedy served as the first black woman president of the Forsyth County Bar Association.[1]
In 1955, her husband, Harold Kennedy Jr., joined her law practice. Eventually, they became partners in the Winston-Salem law firm of Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy and Kennedy, LLP, where they practiced law with two of their three sons, Harold Kennedy III and Harvey Kennedy.[3] The firm specialized in family law and civil litigation, especially civil rights and racial and sexual discrimination cases.[4]