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

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

woman elected to serve in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

state Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

. Lucas was born in Durham, North Carolina 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 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 year ...

in Foreign Languages at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

, where she was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta 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 ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) 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. Th ...

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. 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 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

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