Legal Legend of Color: Annie Brown Kennedy (posthumously)
A native of Atlanta, Annie Brown Kennedy received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Spelman College and a law degree from Howard University School of Law. In 1954, Kennedy passed the N.C. Bar Examination, and she began practicing law as a sole practitioner. She was the second Black woman attorney in North Carolina and the second woman attorney to practice law in Forsyth County.
In 1955, her husband, Harold Kennedy Jr. joined her in the practice of law, forming one of the first husband-and-wife partnerships in the state. The Kennedys’ handled several landmark cases including Simpkins vs. City of Greensboro, which desegregated golf courses and other public recreational facilities in the south. As their firm continued to handle civil rights cases across the state, Annie Brown Kennedy remained deeply engaged in local politics as a member of the Association of Women Attorneys, NAACP, YMCA, League of Women Voters, and United Way. She was a founding member and President of the interracial Democratic Women of Forsyth County and the Society for the Study of African American History.
In 1982, Annie Brown Kennedy was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, becoming the first Black woman to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly. She went on to win six consecutive terms as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, and served the North Carolina General Assembly for 13 years. As a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, her focus was the status of welfare of families, women, and African Americans, among other issues. She also worked to draw the district designed to elect Black candidates to Congress, the North Carolina General Assembly, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education. During her political career, she served as President of the Forsyth County Bar Association, the first Black woman Presidential Elector in North Carolina in 1976, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984.
In 1994, Annie Brown Kennedy chose not to seek reelection; instead, she returned to practicing law in a family-run firm with her husband and two of their three sons. Today, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, & Kennedy, LLP is the oldest law firm of Black attorneys in the state of North Carolina. Since its inception, the firm has expanded to represent cases involving employment law, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.
Annie Brown Kennedy also received numerous awards and honors, including the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement award presented by the American Bar Association in 2002.