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BCR Leading Ladies: Carol Moseley Braun, First Black Woman Senator

by Kristen King on February 12th, 2008

CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN was the first, and so far the only, African American woman elected to a seat in the US Senate, and the only woman to date elected from the state of Illinois. Braun represented Illinois in the Senate from 1993-1999 after serving in the Illinois House of Representatives as assistant majority leader in the late 1970s. With a law degree from the University of Chicago, Braun was also a former prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago in the mid-’70s. She was nominated as a Democratic candidate in the 2004 US presidential election (but she withdrew just a few days before the Iowa Caucus and supported Howard Dean, instead).

Braun is best known for her opposition of the death penalty in Illinois, and her work to promote equitable and sustainable solutions in housing, health policy, and environmental law. She wrote the Educational Infrastructure Act in 1994, which was geared toward funding education in low-income areas. All together, she introduced 14 bills to the Senate, and more than half of them were passed. Other areas of focus included community development and law enforcement.

Currently, Braun practices law in Chicago and also runs an organic food company called Ambassador Organics.

Sources:

• Carol Moseley Braun
• Carol Moseley Braun Biography
• Carol Moseley-Braun

(photo: official Senate headshot)

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