Lillian Exum Clement
When
Lillian Exum Clement was born in 1894 in the highlands of North
Carolina, little did her parents know that the story of women in the
General Assembly had begun.
Clement was determined to study law after finishing high school in
Asheville and studying at Asheville Business College. She took a job as
a sheriff's deputy and studied at night with private tutors. After
earning one of the highest scores on the bar exam among 70 students,
she became a criminal lawyer, the first female attorney in North
Carolina without male partners.
In 1920, the Buncombe County Democratic Party asked the 26-year-old
Clement to run for a seat in the North Carolina House of
Representatives. She beat two male opponents in the primary election
before the Equal Suffrage Amendment had passed. As the Democratic
candidate in a traditionally one-party state, Clement sailed through
the general election. She was elected by a margin of 10,368 to 41. Not
only was she the first woman to serve in the North Carolina General
Assembly, but also the first woman to serve in any state legislature in
the South.
Clement said of her experience running for office her now-famous
words: "...I want to blaze a trail for other women. I know that years
from now there will be many other women in politics, but you have to
start a thing."
Other female firsts in the North Carolina General Assembly:
First Female Senator: Gertrude Dills McKee, 1931
First Female House Minority Leader: Betsy Lane Cochrane, 1985
First Female Speaker Pro Tempore: Marie W. Colton, 1991
First Female Senate Minority Leader: Betsy Lane Cochrane, 1995
Alfreda Johnson Webb: first African American woman appointed
(1971) to the General Assembly. She was appointed by Governor Robert
Scott after the close of the session, but did not serve, losing her bid
for election in 1972.
Annie Brown Kennedy: first African American woman to serve and
be elected to the General Assembly. Appointed by Governor James B.
Hunt, Jr., in 1979, Kennedy skipped the 1981-1982 session, and, in
1982, became the first African American woman to be elected. Kennedy
served through 1994.
Jeanne Lucas: first African American woman to be elected to the North Carolina Senate (1991 - 1997) Deceased
Excerpts taken from "Notable North Carolina Women", by Jennifer
Ravi, 1992; and "Women of the North Carolina General Assembly", issued
by the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office, 1995.
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