Jeanne Hopkins Lucas (December 25, 1935 - March 9, 2007) was the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

woman elected to serve in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

state Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

. Lucas was born in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

to Robert Hopkins and Bertha Holman Hopkins. She attended East End Elementary School, Whitted Junior High School, and Hillside High School, where she graduated in 1953. She completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in Foreign Languages at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...

, where she was a member of the

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

sorority. Lucas returned to Hillside to teach French and Spanish between 1957 and 1975. From 1975 to 1976 she served as President of the North Carolina Association of Classroom Teachers. She gained her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in School Administration from NCCU in 1977, and until 1993 worked in administrative positions for Durham Public Schools. In 1993, Lucas was appointed to the state's twentieth Senatorial district to complete the term of former Senator Ralph Hunt, and was subsequently re-elected six times. Lucas, known as "Queen Jeanne" by some of her fellow Senators, served on various Senate committees including in a number of leadership positions such as Majority Whip and Senior Chair of the Appropriations on Education/Higher Education Committee, Cochair of the Education/Higher Education Committee, and Vice-Chair of Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee. She was a member and Trustee of Mount Gilead Baptist Church, and was active in a variety of other civic groups in Durham including the local branch of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

. In 2003, she was diagnosed with a breast cancer tumor and underwent vigorous treatment to remove it. On her death the son of late civil rights leader

Floyd McKissick Floyd Bixler McKissick (March 9, 1922 – April 28, 1991) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist. He became the first African-American student at the University of North Carolina School of Law. In 1966 he became leader of CORE, the Con ...

, Floyd McKissick, Jr., was appointed to fill the remainder of her term in the North Carolina Senate.newsobserver.com , State Sen. Jeanne Lucas dies
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with Lucas regarding Hillside High School during school desegregation

External links

, - 2007 deaths Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Politicians from Durham, North Carolina Women state legislators in North Carolina 1935 births 20th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians Hillside High School (Durham, North Carolina) alumni 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub