Wilma J. Webb (born 1944) is an American politician who was a member of the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

from 1980 to 1993. A Democrat, she represented

Denver County Denver () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States#State capital, capital, and List of municipalities in Colorado#, most populous city of th ...

in the

Colorado House of Representatives The Colorado House of Representatives is the lower house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Colorado. The House is composed of 65 members from an equal number of constituent districts, with each distr ...

. She sponsored dozens of bills including

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

reform and equality initiatives. She is best known for sponsoring legislation that adopted

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

's birthday as a

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

state holiday before it became the federal

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Mond ...

holiday, and for her efforts to educate the young about King's legacy.

Early life and education

Webb was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to Faye and Frank Gerdine. She attended the

University of Colorado Denver The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) is a Public university, public research university in Denver, Colorado. It is part of the University of Colorado system. History University of Colorado System Anschutz Medical Campus The University ...

without obtaining a degree. As a state legislator, she attended the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

in 1988.

Career

She married

Wellington Webb Wellington E. Webb (born February 17, 1941) is an American politician. He served in the Colorado House of Representatives and was the first African American mayor of Denver, Colorado, serving from 1991 to 2003. Early life and career The Webb fam ...

in 1969. He later became 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 ens ...

mayor of Denver, in office from 1991 to 2003. She was the first First Lady of Denver to have held political office herself. During her time in the

, she became the first African-American member of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee (the legislature's most powerful six-member committee), helping write the state's $4 billion budget in 1981, She has been recognized by several organizations including the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

. She was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 1991.

Personal life

She and her husband have four adult children. She is a member of Zion Baptist Church of Denver, Colorado, and of the

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

sorority.

References

1944 births Living people African-American state legislators in Colorado African-American women in politics First ladies of Denver Members of the Colorado House of Representatives Women state legislators in Colorado Harvard Kennedy School alumni 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women {{Colorado-politician-stub