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Josephine Dobbs Clement
Portrait of Clement
Clement in 1975
Member of the Durham County Board of Commissioners
In office
1984–1990
Member of the Durham City Board of Education
In office
1973–1983
Personal details
Born
Josephine Ophelia Dobbs

(1918-02-09)February 9, 1918
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
DiedMarch 23, 1998(1998-03-23) (aged 80)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
William A. Clement
​
(m. 1941)​
Parents
Relatives
Education

Josephine Ophelia Dobbs Clement (née Dobbs; February 9, 1918 – March 23, 1998) was an American politician, teacher, and civil rights activist. She served on the Board of Education of Durham, North Carolina, the first Black woman to do so.

Education and early career

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Josephine Ophelia Dobbs was born on February 9, 1918, in Atlanta, Georgia, the fourth of six daughters to civic leader John Wesley Dobbs and Irene Dobbs (née Thompson).[1][2] She graduated from Spelman College in 1937 and later earned a Master of Arts degree in home economics from Teachers College, Columbia University.[2] Dobbs taught at Morris Brown College and Savannah State College in Georgia.[2] She married William A. Clement in 1941 and moved to Durham, North Carolina in 1946, where she taught at North Carolina Central University.[3][4]

In the late 1940s, Josephine and William Clement filed lawsuits challenging racial discrimination in schools.[5] Clement and 15 other women leaders in the black community chartered the Durham chapter of the Links, a national service organization, in 1958.[6]

Political career

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In 1971, Clement was appointed to a commission that studied the potential consolidation of Durham City and Durham County.[5] The commission's proposed plan for consolidation was rejected in a 1974 referendum.[7]

The Durham City Council appointed Clement to the Durham City Board of Education in 1973. She was the first black woman to serve on the board.[8] In 1975, the city council asked the North Carolina General Assembly to make the school board an elected body; the legislation was passed in June of the same year. Clement was re-elected to the school board in 1975 and 1979, becoming part of the first black-majority school board in North Carolina.[8][9] In 1978, she became the first black woman to chair the board, and remained in that role for five years.[5][8]

Clement was appointed to the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 1984.[10] She was elected to the board in November 1984, and served three terms until 1990.[11]

Electoral history

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Durham City Board of Education

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Durham City Board of Education election, 1975[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Josephine D. Clement (incumbent) 3,647 44.8
Nonpartisan Theodore R. Speigner (incumbent) 3,164 38.9
Nonpartisan Thomas B. Bass 3,131 38.5
Nonpartisan John D. Lennon 2,777 34.1
Nonpartisan Harry E. Rodenhizer Jr. (incumbent) 2,740 33.6
Nonpartisan Mildred R. Teer 2,738 33.6
Nonpartisan James B. Maxwell 2,583 31.7
Nonpartisan Robert G. "Bob" Ghirardelli 2,347 28.8
Nonpartisan Trellie L. Jeffers 2,342 28.8
Nonpartisan Lou Noel 1,965 24.1
Nonpartisan Elva P. DeJarmon 664 8.2
Total votes 8,143[N 1]
Durham City Board of Education election, 1979[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Josephine D. Clement (incumbent) 4,762 35.5
Nonpartisan Robert G. "Bob" Ghirardelli 4,123 30.8
Nonpartisan Beth Perry Upchurch 4,108 30.7
Nonpartisan Thomas B. Bass (incumbent) 4,029 30.1
Nonpartisan John D. Lennon (incumbent) 4,021 30.0
Nonpartisan Dennis Nicholson 3,944 29.4
Nonpartisan Marty Pierson 3,863 28.8
Nonpartisan Trellie L. Jeffers 3,516 26.2
Nonpartisan James R. Lumley Sr. 3,445 25.7
Nonpartisan William "Bill" Lawrence 1,607 12.0
Nonpartisan Betty D. Massenburg 1,401 10.5
Total votes 13,402[N 1]

Durham County Board of Commissioners

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Durham County Board of Commissioners Democratic primary election, 1984[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rebecca "Becky" Heron (incumbent) 22,818 59.6
Democratic Josephine D. Clement 19,435 50.8
Democratic William V. "Bill" Bell (incumbent) 19,239 50.2
Democratic R. Dillard Teer[N 2] (incumbent) 11,319 29.6
Democratic Louise "Lou" McCutcheon[N 2] 10,647 27.8
Democratic Albert "Al" Hight[N 2] 9,745 25.4
Democratic Brantley DeLoatche (incumbent) 8,629 22.5
Democratic Harlan L. Laws 7,767 22.5
Democratic Thomas E. Maddry 2,700 7.1
Democratic Charles M. "Charlie" Stancel 1,961 5.1
Democratic Dewey A. Davis 1,461 3.8
Total votes 38,295[N 3]
Durham County Board of Commissioners general election, 1984[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rebecca "Becky" Heron (incumbent) 32,141 48.8
Democratic Josephine D. Clement (incumbent) 30,242 46.0
Democratic William V. "Bill" Bell (incumbent) 28,364 43.1
Democratic Louise "Lou" McCutcheon 27,064 41.1
Democratic Albert "Al" Hight 25,023 38.0
Republican Russell N. Barringer Jr. 19,120 29.1
Total votes 65,804[N 1]
Durham County Board of Commissioners general election, 1986[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rebecca "Becky" Heron (incumbent) 26,813 60.7
Democratic Josephine D. Clement (incumbent) 25,496 57.7
Democratic William V. "Bill" Bell (incumbent) 24,781 56.1
Democratic Albert "Al" Hight (incumbent) 24,600 55.7
Democratic Louise "Lou" McCutcheon (incumbent) 21,134 47.8
Republican Douglas K. Davidson 14,455 32.7
Total votes 44,194[N 1]
Durham County Board of Commissioners Democratic primary election, 1988[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rebecca "Becky" Heron (incumbent) 12,754 64.3
Democratic William V. "Bill" Bell (incumbent) 10,246 51.7
Democratic Albert "Al" Hight (incumbent) 9,770 49.3
Democratic Josephine D. Clement (incumbent) 9,663 48.7
Democratic Ellen Reckhow 8,748 44.1
Democratic Louise "Lou" McCutcheon (incumbent) 8,149 41.1
Democratic Harlan Laws 5,800 29.2
Total votes 19,833[N 3]

Personal life

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Josephine Dobbs married William A. Clement on December 24, 1941. William's first wife, Frances, had died of cancer in 1940; they had one daughter, Alexine (born 1936). After they were married, Josephine and William had five children: sons William A. (born 1943), Wesley Dobbs (born 1946), and Arthur John (born 1948), and daughters Kathleen Ophelia (born 1957) and Josephine Millicent.[3]

Death

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Clement died of Sjögren syndrome at age 80 on March 23, 1998.[4]

Legacy

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The Durham Public Education Network, a nonprofit group, established the Josephine Dobbs Clement Award in 1995.[18] The award is presented annually for "exemplary community leadership in public education".[18][19]

Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School, a partnership between Durham Public Schools and North Carolina Central University, opened in 2004 and is named in Clement's honor.[20][21] Cecelia Steppe-Jones, former dean of the School of Education at North Carolina Central University, said that in choosing the name of the school, the program's planners "wanted something special—a name of someone who was or had been an advocate for children", and that Clement's name was ultimately selected due to her public education advocacy, social activism, and leadership.[22]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d The recorded election turnout. Each voter selected up to five candidates and the top five vote getters won the election.
  2. ^ a b c Advanced to a runoff election in June 1984. Hight and McCutcheon won the runoff and advanced to the general election, while Teer was eliminated from the race.
  3. ^ a b The recorded election turnout. Each voter selected up to five candidates and the top five vote getters advanced to the general election.

References

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  1. ^ Zagier, Alan Scher (March 25, 1998). "Durham mourns longtime leader after death at 80". The News & Observer. p. 4. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Mays, Benjamin (May 16, 1953). "He Gives Flowers 'To The Living;' The J. W. Dobbses are 'Exceptional'". Pittsburgh Courier. p. 6. Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "William A. Clement Papers, 1930-1998". The Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. UNC University Libraries. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Powell, Kay (March 25, 1998). "Josephine Dobbs Clement, 80, civic leader". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 32. Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c Hoar, Stephen (July 27, 1991). "Civil rights advocate never lost sight of family". News & Record. The News & Observer. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  6. ^ Anderson 2011, p. 365.
  7. ^ Anderson 2011, p. 300.
  8. ^ a b c Vann 2017, p. 50.
  9. ^ Jordan, Milton (November 15, 1975). "Four realize 'dream' with election to Durham school board". Baltimore Afro-American. p. 5.
  10. ^ Anderson 2011, p. 412.
  11. ^ Anderson 2011, p. 453.
  12. ^ "Municipal Primary City School Board Election" (PDF). Durham County Board of Elections. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  13. ^ "Municipal Primary & City School Board" (PDF). Durham County Board of Elections. p. 3. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  14. ^ "Primary" (PDF). Durham County Board of Elections. May 8, 1984. p. 9. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  15. ^ "General" (PDF). Durham County Board of Elections. November 6, 1984. p. 13. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  16. ^ "General" (PDF). Durham County Board of Elections. November 4, 1986. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  17. ^ "Party Primary & County School Board Election" (PDF). Durham County Board of Elections. May 3, 1988. p. 6. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Hower, Wendy (May 3, 1998). "Volunteer known for getting things done". The News & Observer. p. 31. Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Hui, T. Keung (March 2, 2005). "Broughton principal retiring". The News & Observer. p. 21. Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Ammons honored for starting Early College at NCCU". Winston-Salem Chronicle. July 21, 2005. p. 5. Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via digitalnc.org.
  21. ^ Hinchcliffe, Kelly (September 27, 2019). "'We did it. We actually did it': Durham school named one of the best in the nation". WRAL. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  22. ^ Steppe-Jones, Cecelia (June 2011). Commencement Speech (Speech). Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School Commencement 2011. NCCU Teaching Matters. Retrieved January 11, 2021.

Bibliography

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