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.
Cook, read, learn, and celebrate what North Carolina has to offer this month.
Our editor in chief reminisces on her first special-occasion restaurant experience in North Carolina.
In Pitt County, a luthier’s handcrafted guitars are sometimes discolored or full of knots; some are shaped liked snakes or shotguns. Each instrument’s story starts with the wood used to make it. And while the past may have left its scars, beauty can be found in the sights and sounds of art.
The Roanoke begins in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and travels more than 400 miles before emptying into Albemarle Sound, linking countless lives along the way. Follow along as a native son traces the river’s path through northeastern North Carolina, sharing stories of the Roanoke he knows and loves.
