Editor’s note: This story was first published on ourstate.com in November 2015.
Jennifer Roberts was sworn in as Charlotte’s new mayor Monday, marking a milestone in North Carolina: For the first time, our state’s three largest cities — Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro — are led by women. This almost happened before: Patsy Kinsey was appointed Charlotte’s mayor after Anthony Foxx left office in 2013 to become the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. She held that office until December 2, 2013. The very next day, current Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan (who was re-elected on Tuesday) was sworn in. Raleigh’s mayor, Nancy McFarlane, was first elected in 2011.
The first woman to become mayor in North Carolina, according to the Our State archives, was Katherine Mayo Cowan, who took over the unexpired term of her husband, who died in office in Wilmington in 1924. The first woman to be elected mayor in North Carolina was Annie Koonce Jenkins of Maysville, in Jones County. She won in 1925, served for six years, and was responsible for planting the oak trees that still line the streets of Maysville today.
Isabella Cannon
The first woman to become mayor of Raleigh (and the first woman to be elected the mayor of any American capital city) was Isabella Cannon, who made national headlines after she entered the race late, and ended up defeating the incumbent:
Involved in public service most of her life, Cannon made history in 1977 when, at age 73, she became the first woman elected mayor of Raleigh. Known as the “little old lady in tennis shoes,” she had never run for office before her election. Working 16-hour days and using a no-nonsense style, she developed a comprehensive plan that still guides the growth of the city.
Cannon died in 2002 at age 97. Today, a park in Raleigh bears her name.
In North Carolina, spring brings the scent of fresh-cut grass and memories of helping Dad mow the lawn.
Nostalgic burger joints are like time machines, delivering something extra special that keeps us coming back.
This tiny city block in downtown Greensboro once had a gigantic reputation. Not so much for its charbroiled beef patties — though they, too, were plentiful — but for its colorful characters and their wild shenanigans.
In the 1950s, as Americans hit freshly paved roads in shiny new cars during the postwar boom, a new kind of restaurant took shape: the drive-in. From those first thin patties to the elaborate gourmet hamburgers of today, North Carolina has spent the past 80 years making burger history.
