William L. Wainwright (October 19, 1947 – July 17, 2012) was a Democratic member of the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

representing the state's twelfth

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

district, including constituents in Craven and

Lenoir Lenoir may refer to: Locations: * Lenoir, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States * Lenoir City, Tennessee In Universities: * Lenoir-Rhyne University * Lenoir Dining Hall, a dining hall at the University of N ...

counties. A church elder from

Havelock, North Carolina Havelock is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, Craven County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,735 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the world's largest United States Marine C ...

, Wainwright was serving in his eleventh term in the state House of Representatives when he died in office after a prolonged illness.

Biography

William Wainwright was born in

Somerville, Tennessee Somerville is a town in Fayette County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Memphis metropolitan area. The population was 3,415 at the 2020 census, up from 3,094 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fayette County. History The to ...

and graduated with a BS degree from

Memphis State University } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

in 1970. He was pastor of Piney Grove AME Zion Church from 1985 to 1993. In January 2007, Wainwright was nominated by his colleagues in the Democratic caucus as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

of the House. He was elected on January 24, making him the first African American to serve in the number-two post in the House since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. He was re-elected Speaker pro tempore in 2009. After Democrats lost their House majority, Wainwright was elected deputy minority leader.

Footnotes

External links

NCGA Official PageProject Vote Smart bio page
, - , - , - Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives 1947 births 2012 deaths Politicians from New Bern, North Carolina 21st-century American legislators People from Somerville, Tennessee People from Havelock, North Carolina 21st-century North Carolina politicians {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub