Anna Langford, 1975
On this date in 1917, Anna Langford was born. She was a Black politician and attorney.
Born in Springfield, OH, Langford attended Roosevelt University and earned a law degree in 1956, which began an extensive civil rights and criminal law career. Working throughout Illinois, she actively defended civil rights workers in the 1960s and joined Dr. Martin Luther King's Chicago civil rights marches.
In 1971, Anna Langford became the first woman elected to the Chicago City Council. Langford was defeated for re-election in 1975 but returned to serve two additional terms in the Chicago City Council from 1983 to 1991.
She received numerous humanitarian and civic awards and honors, including being inducted into the Book of Legends by the Black Women Lawyers Association for her immeasurable contributions to the City of Chicago as a lawyer and a public servant. Anna Langford passed away on September 17, 2008, at 90.
The African American Desk Reference
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Copyright 1999 The Stonesong Press Inc. and
The New York Public Library, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Pub.
ISBN 0-471-23924-0
