Wilma Webb | |
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First Lady of Denver | |
In office July 15, 1991 –July 21, 2003 | |
Preceded by | Ellen Hart Peña |
Succeeded by | Helen Thorpe |
Member of the ColoradoHouseofRepresentatives from the 8th district | |
In office 1980–1993 [1] | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1944 (age 80–81) Denver,Colorado,U.S. |
Spouse | Wellington Webb (m. 1969) |
Children | 4 |
Wilma J. Webb (born 1944) is an American politician who was a member of the Colorado General Assembly from 1980 to 1993. A Democrat,she represented Denver County in the Colorado House of Representatives. [2] She sponsored dozens of bills including school reform and equality initiatives. She is best known for sponsoring legislation that adopted Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a Colorado state holiday before it became the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday,and for her efforts to educate the young about King's legacy. [3]
Webb was born in Denver,Colorado,to Faye and Frank Gerdine. She attended the University of Colorado Denver without obtaining a degree. [4] As a state legislator,she attended the Harvard Kennedy School in 1988. [5]
She married Wellington Webb in 1969. He later became the first African American mayor of Denver,in office from 1991 to 2003. [5] She was the first First Lady of Denver to have held political office herself. [6]
During her time in the Colorado House of Representatives,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, [1]
She has been recognized by several organizations including the National Education Association. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1991. [1]
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 sorority.