Cynthia Jenkins (July 21, 1924 – October 31, 2001) was an American librarian, community activist, and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

She was born Essie Cynthia Burnley in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, the daughter of Stephen Alexander Burnley and Maymie McGill Young Burnley. The family moved to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, where she attended school. She graduated with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Louisville Municipal College Simmons College of Kentucky is a private historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky. Founded in 1879, it is the nation's 107th HBCU and is accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education. History Beginnings In August 1865 ...

. On April 17, 1949, she married Joseph D. Jenkins (1921–2011), a World War II U.S. Army veteran and insurance broker. Their only child was the Rev. Joseph D. Jenkins Jr. They lived in

Springfield Gardens, Queens Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the we ...

. She graduated with a

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Library science from

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

in 1966, and did post-graduate studies at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She worked as a librarian in the public library system in Queens, and at times lectured at

LaGuardia Community College LaGuardia Community College is a public community college in New York City. It is in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in and part of the City University of New York. LaGuardia is named after former congressman and New York City mayor ...

and CUNY York College. She entered politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, and was a delegate to the

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1988 Democratic National Convention The 1988 Democratic National Convention was held at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, from July 18 to 21, 1988, to select candidates for the 1988 presidential election. At the convention Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was nominated for pre ...

s. She was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(29th D.) from 1983 to 1994, sitting in the 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th and

190th New York State Legislature The 190th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6, 1993, to December 31, 1994, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Back ...

s. In 1994, she ran for re-nomination, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by William Scarborough. In 1997, she tried to challenge the incumbent New York City Councilman

Archie Spigner Archie Spigner (August 27, 1928 – October 29, 2020) was an African-American politician who served in the New York City Council from 1974 to 2001. He was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina. On the city council, he represented south-east Queens. ...

in the 27th District's Democratic primary, but was ruled off the ballot. A large part of the signatures of her petition were rejected by Justice Joseph G. Golia of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

which left Jenkins with less than the required number of 900 registered Democrats who needed to sign. A few days later, the Appellate Division upheld Golia's decision. In November 1997, she ran on the

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

ticket, but was defeated by Spigner. In 2000, she ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the 10th District State Senate seat, and in 2001, she ran again for Spigner's City Council seat. She was nominated again on the Independence Party ticket but died a week before the election. She died on October 31, 2001, in

North Shore Hospital North Shore Hospital is a large public hospital in Takapuna, New Zealand, serving the northern part of Auckland. Located on Shakespeare Road near Lake Pupuke, it is administered by the Waitemata District Health Board, which provides health servi ...

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is considered the anchor communi ...

, after a long illness; and was buried in Louisville, Kentucky.''Hundreds mourn Cynthia Jenkins, 77''
by Betsy Scheinbart, in the '' TimesLedger'', of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, on November 8, 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Cynthia 1924 births 2001 deaths People from Queens, New York Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Women state legislators in New York (state) Pratt Institute alumni African-American state legislators in New York (state) African-American women in politics Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee Politicians from Louisville, Kentucky Simmons College of Kentucky alumni 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Kentucky women in politics Kentucky women librarians Activists from Kentucky African-American librarians American women librarians American librarians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American politicians