Annie Brown Kennedy

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.

Early life and legal career 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.

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.

Political career Kennedy became active in the local Democratic Party during the 1960s and 1970s, campaigning for desegregation and African American civil rights. She was a founding member and president of the multiracial Democratic Women of Forsyth County.

Legacy Kennedy served on the boards of directors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Southern National Bank, the Winston-Salem State University Foundation, the First Baptist Church of Winston-Salem, and many other organizations. She received the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the American Bar Association in 2002. The North Carolina General Assembly passed a joint resolution honoring her life and memory in June 2023.

Kennedy died in Winston-Salem on January 17, 2023, at the age of 98. Her husband predeceased her.