Dudley Dudley

Dudley Dudley (née Webster; born August 4, 1936) is an American political activist, known for her 1974 legislation that helped prevent shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis from building an oil pipeline on the Isles of Shoals and a refinery near Durham, New Hampshire. In 1976, Dudley became the first woman elected to the New Hampshire Executive Council, where she served four consecutive terms. In 1984, she won the Democratic primary to represent New Hampshire's First Congressional District.

Early life and career Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, Dudley Webster was raised in the nearby town of Durham, where she has lived most of her life. She attended Durham Center School, the Robinson Female Seminary in Exeter, and studied art at the University of New Hampshire. Dudley and her husband have two daughters, whom they raised in Durham.

Dudley became involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and, in 1969, she and Tom protested the incarceration of two black Marines who spoke out against the Vietnam War. William Harvey and George Daniels were sentenced to six and 10 years of hard labor, respectively, for telling other black servicemen that they should not engage in a “white man’s war” when they weren't being treated as equals in their own country. The Dudleys sailed back and forth in front of the Portsmouth Naval Prison with a sign that read "Free Harvey and Daniels" until the soldiers were finally released.

Dudley was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention for George McGovern, working for him in the presidential primary race in New Hampshire. In 1974, Congressman Morris Udall came to Bedford, New Hampshire, to announce his run for the Democratic presidential nomination. About halfway through her first term, an unexpected and environmentally significant change was proposed that would have altered Dudley's hometown and the entire seacoast of New Hampshire: the construction of an oil refinery, which would have been one of the largest in the world.

Opposition to Onassis oil refinery plans In 1974, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis announced plans to build a 400,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery on Great Bay in Durham. When she arrived at his office, then-Governor Meldrim Thomson ordered her out of his office, whereupon she unrolled the petition on the steps of the New Hampshire State House for a widely published news photograph.

It was a vicious battle, but Dudley eventually proposed legislation that convinced a special session of the state legislature to approve Home Rule Bill HB 18, giving Durham residents the right to veto the oil refinery.

The screenplay Oil and Water depicts the battle between Aristotle Onassis and Dudley. Written by Alfred Thomas Catalfo and Morgan Webster Dudley (Dudley's daughter), the script won the 2015 Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition and placed as a finalist (top 0.5%) in the 2015 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition.

Later political career

Following the oil refinery battle, Dudley was elected to the Executive Council of New Hampshire from the 3rd district, where she served from 1976 to 1984. At that time she was the first woman to serve in an office higher than Legislature, making her the highest politically ranked woman in the state.

In 1984, Dudley won the Democratic nomination for the First Congressional District, and was defeated by Republican Bob Smith.

In 2016, Dudley was an elector in the Electoral College, casting one of New Hampshire's four electoral votes for Hillary Clinton.

Also in 2016, Dudley's portrait was commissioned to be hung in the Governor's Council Chambers at the New Hampshire State House in Concord.